My whole goal when selling is to get the customer to say, "I'll take it," so I don't ever have to ask, "Will you buy it?" But I also know that if the customer doesn't say, "I'll take it," that I must ask, "Will you buy it?" In the truest sense, closing the sale makes you a salesperson.

I've always said that if you had everything the customer wanted all of the time, if you didn't have any competition, if you had the best prices, and the customers could serve themselves, we wouldn't need salespeople. To avoid simply becoming a "public-relations representative," always remember this to-the-point definition of a salesperson:

A salesperson is one who causes the transfer of merchandise ownership from the store to the customer via a sales slip.

This definition implies nothing but the ability to accomplish the goal of making the sale. A part of this definition that is not spelled out, but is of at least equal importance, is that the merchandise must stay sold. If the merchandise is returned, or an order is cancelled, the original sale was useless.

Many salespeople are fearful about coming right out and asking the customer to buy. The salesperson tries to avoid rejection. Conversely, many shoppers are reluctant to initiate the actual purchase by saying they'll take it. The shoppers are unwilling to make the decision on their own.

This leads to a large number of lost sales. In fact, for any 100 sales presentations, the following percentages hold true: 20 percent of the time the salesperson asks the customer to buy, 20 percent of the time the customers say, "I'll take it" on their own, and 60 percent of the time no attempt is made to close the sale at all.

The salesperson may be under the impression that the customer is not going to buy. This may not be true. However, because the salesperson believes it to be true, they simply avoid asking the customer to buy. This eliminates any possibility of being rejected. Unfortunately, it also eliminates the possibility of closing the sale.

The only way stop cheating yourself out of that 60 percent of potential sales, is to ask every customer to buy, every single time. Whether the customer has the money or is really interested should be of no concern to the salesperson. It is debilitating for a salesperson to second guess if the customer will buy. Instead, professionals ask themselves, "How much will they buy?"

To close the sale more often and sometimes more quickly, salespeople must listen more closely for buying signals and act on them at once. For example, "Do you take credit cards?" or "How long would it take to get it transferred?" or "Does this come in any other colors?" or "Did you say the sale ends today?" These are all signals to the salesperson. In simple terms, the customer is saying, "I'm interested, I want it, ask me!" When you hear a buying signal, close the sale. Buying signals can come at anytime during the presentation, but value must have been established before they will occur.

Obviously, you can't always count on getting a buying signal to know when to close the sale. If you don't get one, take control of the situation yourself and close. There are hundreds of closing techniques. The wider your repertoire, the more likely it is that you'll have the most appropriate one for the situation. Here are a few of my favorites.

The Either/Or Close: This applies to customers who may just be waiting to be asked to buy. Asking an either/or question such as "Will that be cash or charge?" or "Would you like it in black or white?" offers only positive possible answers. The customers will either answer yes to one of the options you provide, or say they don't want it at all. Two out of three of the possible answers make the salesperson the winner.

The Ask-for-It Close: Many customers have a basic fear of initiating the close. Often, they are just waiting to be asked to buy. Simply asking, "So, would you like to buy it?" will sometimes do the trick. You just have to have the guts to ask.

The Reflexive Close: When your customer asks a question such as, "Does this come in blue, too?" don't simply answer the question with a yes. Instead, look them dead in the eye and ask, "Would you like it in blue?" When they say "yes," you've closed the sale.

The Order Form Close: This is a great one for customers who can't seem to make up their minds or won't quit talking. Simply walk up to the counter, get a sales slip, walk back over to the customer, and start filling it out. You can start by asking, "Would you please spell your last name for me?" If the customer starts spelling, you've closed the sale. If they say, "Hey, wait a minute. I'm not sure I want it yet," don't panic. Simply apologize and say you thought they had decided. Remember, you would use this close only if it was appropriate for a particular customer.

Another Trial Close: Although a trial close is really intended to add on to the sale as well as close on the primary item, it certainly could be used over and over again until the customer finally says "no!" Simply put, it involves asking the customer "How about this to go along with that?"

To The Bone Close: If a customer is haggling over price with you, and you've already gone as low as you'd like to go, this is a good close. First, go on a mission; go in a backroom somewhere and comb your hair or go up to your store manager or owner and tell them to act like you're talking to them about this situation. You just need to let the customer think that you're finding out if you can go any lower. When you come back, tell the customer that you'd really love to sell the item for less, but you're at the bone on this one. However, if the customer is interested in this other item (a more expensive one), you could give a larger discount since you have a bigger margin to work with. This implies that the original item is a great value for the money, and hopefully the customer will go ahead and take it.

The Do Something Different Close: Certain customers drive you crazy when they can't make up their minds. If you've tried everything and they still won't say yes, yet don't walk out the door, try anything. One time I had just completed a seminar on selling for a company, and then visited one of their stores that same evening. While I was there, I waited on a customer for what seemed like days. Needless to say, every salesperson in the store was watching me and the pressure was on. I pulled out all of the stops and could not get this man to make a decision. I excused myself, went into the office where one of my sales manuals was lying on a desk, and brought it back to the customer with me. As I began thumbing through the pages I said, "You know, I went to this class on selling today and it says right here that you should have bought a long time ago. What's the problem?" He laughed and eventually ended up buying. Have some fun. Don't take your job so seriously. You'll have more fun, and your customers will enjoy it too.

Penalty Close: I only mention the penalty close because it is one of the most overused closes in the history of selling. Avoid using it whenever possible. For example, don't say things like, "It's the last one in stock," or "The sale ends tomorrow" unless those statements are true.

Remember, there are different methods for closing the sale, but how you do it is not important. What matters is that you attempt to do it.

Also, when you've popped the closing question, don't say a single word. You've stated your case and the ball is in the customer's court. If you talk first, you run the risk of "buying the merchandise back." Always remember the rule in closing the sale: He who speaks first, loses.

When all is said and done, you should be able to close more sales simply by asking. Become a true retail sales professional.