Yup, I said it.  Good closers are bad sales people. The better a “closer” is, as defined by traditional definitions, the shittier the sales person they are.

Why?

A good “closer” is someone who is unable to bring the client along and close them during each step of the sales cycle and therefore they have to “close” the whole deal in one step.

Closing in the traditional sense is the idea that a sales person gets to the end of the sale, has shown their wares, pitched their story and now needs to get the prospect or client to make a decision. It’s very linear. Really good closers have developed their craft over years and years of coaxing clients into a decision at a single point in the selling process and therefore have forgotten how to sell.

Having carried a bag and managed sales organizations before, we understand that there will be times when it may be necessary to attempt to close an opportunity before it’s really ready. The manager needs the sale in order to ‘keep the lights on’ or worse yet, the sales person needs the close to remain employed. In this case, the sales manager needs to discuss the situation with the sales person and explain to him/her why it is necessary to attempt to ‘accelerate’ the sales process.