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disinterest or disbelief. The recruiter’s job is still to
work on building rapport and making the prospect feel
comfortable enough to open up with the recruiter and
concentrate on the sales presentation.
THE TRIAL CLOSE
It is often said that the secret to closing is knowing
when to rather than how to. The trial close is designed
to find out when to close. Known as the salesperson’s
thermometer, the trial close is an opinion-asking
question. You can use the trial close to check your
prospect’s response to your conviction or evidence when
you suspect a buying signal or anytime you feel the
need to check the prospect’s temperature. The bridge
into a trial close is “In your opinion, do you feel. . .”
The rest of the question becomes “the wants and needs
provided by the Navy will give you your DBM?” Now,
the prospects have already told us that if they get their
wants and needs they will have their DBM. All we are
adding is “provided by the Navy.” The natural response
would be yes. If they will realize their DBM with the
attainment of their wants and needs, then they also will
realize their DBM when the Navy provides them their
wants and needs. Of course that won’t always happen.
The following responses should be made to hot,
lukewarm, and cold prospects.
Hot Prospect
If the prospects respond favorably to your trial
close — CLOSE! That’s right, no further talking is
necessary. It is time to move your prospects on. In
effect, they have given you that green light that says
“Okay. put me in the Navy.” Talking too much can
actually unsell prospects.
Lukewarm Prospect
Lukewarm prospects may respond with an “I’m just
not sure” or “Well it looks good, but. . .” If the
prospects ask for more information, by all means
provide more conviction and/or evidence. If they
express an unclear thought, handle it as an objection.
Cold Prospect
Cold prospects may answer with a flat-out no. They
may even continue with a reason for the negative
response. Either way, go into objection-handling, which
we will discuss directly after the close.
THE CLOSE
The purpose of your close is to let your prospects
know they have bought. The close is a critical point in
the sales presentation. Well-published sales motivator
Tom Hopkins said, “Closing is the process of helping
people make decisions that are good for them.” The
close is a call to action. Recruiters must understand the
psychology of the close as well as the techniques.
The Psychology of the Close
We must understand the psychology of the close,
both from the perspective of the prospect and the
recruiter.
The prospect generally hates making
decisions. Decision making is not usually easy for
anyone.
Your prospect
may be particularly
inexperienced at making his or her own decisions.
Therefore, the recruiter must be relaxed and assumptive
to help the prospect through this mental turmoil. One
way to do this is by making sure the close asks for a
minor decision. Asking prospects directly if they are
ready to enlist may add to their turmoil. Asking for a
minor decision helps the prospects ease into their
decision to enlist.
Types of Minor Decisions
We use five basic types of closes. All types ask for
a minor decision from the prospect. The decision may
be in the form of an outright answer or the completion
of a requested action. The five types of minor decisions
with an example of each are as follows:
1. Minor point. “My people take their physicals
and process on Tuesday; I will pick you up.”
2. Alternate proposal. “I can schedule you for a
physical and processing on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Which would be better for you?”
3. Gift. “I’d like to present you with the pamphlet
How You Can Join the Navy. I’ll write in the times for
your test and physical right here in the front.”
4. Action. “Jason,
here’s your first Navy
assignment just grab that envelope over there, and we’ll
get started on your application.”
5. Impending doom. “It’s now or never.”
CAUTION: You should be careful with this type of
close. Be sure that you are willing to back up the threat.
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