Closing Technique of the Week: The Total Savings Close (Piggy Bank Close)

The close is a beautiful art form. It is like catching a butterfly with your hands. When you go to catch it you cannot be too forceful because then you will crush it. In the same sense, you cannot be to lackadaisical because then it will get away. You need a perfect combination of speed and execution. There are many pieces that are needed in order for the close to be successful. The technique of the week is the total savings close. This technique is also known as the piggy bank close because it shows your clients how much money they get to put back into their piggy bank. This is a very basic closing technique but sometimes you just need to refer back to the basics. The gist, of the technique, is to show the client how much they are saving.

In order for the savings close to be effective, there has to be some sort of sale going on. If there are no financial savings happening, for the client, this close will not work. The first step is to get your numbers on paper. You need to have some sort of proposal (quote) sheets available. If your company does not provide them for you then you can just create your own. The concept is to get your clients to visualize everything. See it in writing (more information on my sales process here). When you client sees something in writing they are more likely to trust you. Sales is a game of trust so you need to be looking to gain trust every chance you get. What proof do you have to backup your words? So always write down your proposals and the benefits going with it. Your close rate and credibility will rise.

Once you get the proposal in writing down, you are good to go. If your client is ready for pricing of your products and/or services, then price it up for them. What you need to do is to price up the original price (out the door NOT just product total) for everything first so product, service, tax, insurance, fees, etc. It has to be everything out the door. You cannot skip the tax or something just because it takes another 30 seconds. Take the time and show your client the full price. The reason you price everything up by original is it will amplify the client's total out the door. As salesmen, sometimes we overlook the smaller savings that the client receives like extra savings on tax or discounted delivery fee. So this will show the client their true savings, hit a cognitive bias, in our brains, and increase urgency. This all happens in one fell swoop!

When you present the proposal to your client, you need to be sure to point out what the original out the door would have been and point out the savings. Below is an example of this:

• "Alright Mrs. Jones so I worked up our pricing for everything and the original out the door is $5,379.99. It is on sale right now for $4,787.63 which is a total savings of about $600 (give as estimated number rounded up). Would you prefer to pay out of pocket or utilize our 12 month 0% financing plan?"

If I were to just work up the pricing and say that Mrs. Jones's total is at $4,787.63 it would not have that savings effect in her mind. This is a psychological technique. Your clients need to know their savings. If you do not show them the savings then the sale price is technically the original for them. The reason it is like that is there was never a first price to them. You will have to negotiate less with this closing technique. Show someone how much they are saving vs. how much they are spending. You want to estimate the savings and round up to amplify them. For example, if the savings are $592, say about $600 and if the savings are $539 then say about $550. Do not over round because that will hurt your credibility.

Some price shoppers will require a few slashes, in price, before they ever accept a deal. If you keep reverting back to the original out the door that will be your starting point not the initial sale price. You may be thinking that will add some time to the sales process. While yes that is true, it is good time. I am all for a more efficient sales process but you need to slow down, in the close. Just do not take too long with the pricing. If you work in car sales and it will take your pricing time from 20 minutes to 35 then that will not work. It can only add a few more minutes to your pricing process tops! But, if you approach too quick and sloppily, you will be less efficient. That is why the close is so delicate. One wrong move and you are toast! I am not sure if you noticed but in my example I asked for the sale. You MUST ask for the sale. Do no let your clients beat you to the punch line. Force yourself to ask them to buy. You are missing sales if you don't ask to buy.

Try out this technique and let me know how it worked for you! I want to share success stories of how you closed a deal using the total savings close and how much the deal was!

Happy selling!

-Cody