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Always Be Closing - Definition

Written by Jason Gordon

Updated at December 18th, 2020

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Always Be Closing Definition

Always Be Closing (ABC) is an aggressive approach to sales which is incorporated to sales strategy. It is also a phrase that motivates a salesperson to continuously employ measures and strategies that are driven towards completing a sales target. In ABS, the salesperson does not stop looking for new prospects and pitching services to potential prospects until the sale goal is realized. One key factor of the ABC sales strategy is persistency and the ability of the salesperson to discern when to drop some prospects and move on to another.

A Little More on What is Always Be Closing

Glengarry Glen Ross, a movie which was produced in 1992 made the Always Be Closing strategy popular. The film presented an aggressive approach to sales with the aim of motivating salesperson to do all they can to achieve their sales goals. As projected by this film, salesperson in the real estate industry who do not meet sales target are at the verge of losing their jobs. The film which was written by David Mamet accused salesperson of lacking the required motivation and resilience in achieving sales goals. The film repeatedly projected the Always Be Closing phrase with the aim of spurring salespersons to do more.

The Effectiveness of Always Be Closing

According to the ABC strategy, efficient salesperson should be able to decipher when to cut their losses. That is cut ties with unyielding prospects and move on to another prospect. After the Always Be Closing phrase was popularized in 1992, it has been used by sales managers and a motivational phrase to drive productivity in their sales personnel. ABC strategy seeks to instill tenacity and resilience in salespersons which is important for gaining new prospects and completing their sales. As a competent salesperson, it is crucial to discover what the needs of your prospects are and this will inform the types of goods and services that are marketed to these prospects. For a salesperson to complete hi sales, he must be closing up on prospects and ensure they make purchase.

Real World Example

Always Be Closing is a concept that does not just occur in theory but can be used for real life scenarios. Although not constantly used, the ABC technique has been devised in certain periods. For instance; CSO insights conducted a study in 2018 on salespeople. The research indicated that salespeople who are successful in their sales endeavours used about 35% of their time closing deals. That is they used the time acquiring new prospects and selling their products and services. These set of sales personnel invested a bulk of their time in customer follow-up and other strategies aimed at closing deals. However, a recent study published on InvestmentNews.com found out that ABC is not as effective as before as customers prefer making research on goods before they purchase them or even window shopping.

Reference for Always Be Closing ABC

https://www.investopedia.com Personal Finance Career / Compensationhttps://www.quora.com/In-sales-what-does-ABC-always-be-closing-mean-Is-it-good-adv...https://www.onepagecrm.com/.../communication-in-sales-modern-approach-to-client-...https://blog.hubspot.com/.../always-be-closing-is-dead-how-to-always-be-helping-in-2...https://adsoup.com/what-does-it-mean-to-always-be-closing-2/

Academics research on Always Be Closing ABC

Cross-sectional field studies in management accounting researchClosingthe gaps between surveys and case studies, Lillis, A. M., & Mundy, J. (2005). Cross-sectional field studies in management accounting researchClosing the gaps between surveys and case studies.Journal of management accounting research,17(1), 119-141. While empirical researchers in management accounting frequently address overlapping research issues using a variety of methods, there is little evidence of productive dialogue addressing the uncertainties and ambiguities raised within each stream of research. For example, survey researchers frequently call for deeper fieldbased insights into conflicting or ambiguous findings. Case study researchers convey rich organizational stories of management accounting in context. However, these fieldbased findings are rarely used to resolve the ambiguity in construct definition, measurement, and interrelationships that plague our empirical research bases. In this paper we seek to regenerate interest in a method that has been implemented in the past to promote productive fieldbased dialogue on issues related to complex constructs and their interrelationships. The method is best illustrated by the crosssectional field study approach adopted by Merchant and Manzoni (1989) to study budget target achievability. By considering the Merchant and Manzoni (1989) study as well as two other examples (Bruns and McKinnon 1993; Abernethy and Lillis 1995) we identify the range of questions suited to this method and how the method contributes significant insights to the management accounting literature. We also articulate the design attributes of crosssectional field studies by explicitly linking the rationale for these studies with the complexity of the phenomenon under study, sampling logic, instrument design, and data analysis protocols. The insights produced from the relatively few published studies using a crosssectional field study method suggest that opportunities for the application of this method may be underexploited. The celluloid cubicle: regressive constructions of masculinity in 1990s office movies, Hunter, L. (2003). The celluloid cubicle: regressive constructions of masculinity in 1990s office movies.The Journal of American Culture,26(1), 71-86.Costs and benefits in the economy of honors, Badenhausen, R. (2012). Costs and benefits in the economy of honors. As I write, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen two thousand points over the past three weeks, the national unemployment rate hovers stubbornly above 9%, and Congress is playing a dangerous game of chicken during debates about the countrys financesone that threatens the nations already fragile economy. But the honors community is immune from these worries, right? We have the privilege of dealing with the life of the mind rather than sullying ourselves with more mundane matters like budgets, taxes, and making money. We stand with Socrates, who was well known for his modest lifestyle and equated having no wants with godliness, even using the fact that he was not paid to teach as part of his trial defense. A quick glance at the NCHC conference pre-program for the meeting in Phoenix would seem to suggest the answer is a resounding Yes! In sessions featuring honors staff and faculty, the words money, economy, and economics are not mentioned once, not a single time in 384 pages. Teaching appears in the descriptions of over two dozen sessions. The ethos of honors is grounded in the Socratic tradition that values the inner life over material things; the good life is one that is beautiful and just. Thus in his utopian vision for educating Greek youth in The Republic, Plato hopes to cultivate a lack of desire for money in future leaders. Is it possible, then, that there is an irresolvable tension between honors and, for lack of a better phrase, the money project? And is this tension only increasing in light of the countrys economic trials and what students hope to get out of their college educations? According to UCLAs annual national survey of incoming students, almost 73% of fall 2010 freshmen indicated that the chief benefit of college is that it increases ones earning power, which was an all-time high for answers to that particular question (Incoming College Students). Business-to-business event sponsorship: Generating value through strategy and metrics, Connolly, K. P., & Connolly, A. (2014). Business-to-business event sponsorship: Generating value through strategy and metrics.Journal of Brand Strategy,3(1), 51-58.Corporate sponsorships of public eventsespecially sporting eventsare nothing new. But in 2010, when Alltech set out to sponsor the World Equestrian Games, it did so through a lens which evaluated the impact of their sponsorship very differently. Although history of corporate sponsorships has shown that it is very difficult to extract meaningful data that can be analysed to determine the return on investment, Alltech was able to accomplish just that. Now, as the company approaches the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France, they will again capture data for use in measuring the benefits of this continued sponsorship. This time, however, the aim is to measure direct connections between the company and its end-line clients: farmers. A variety of contact points are planned for the 2014 Games, including experiential marketing on-site and a high-quality advertising campaign. Additionally, there will be a unique campaign to celebrate unsung heroes farmers and owners through a social media campaign, intended to build awareness and engagement. Further metrics are tightly focused on relationship development and maximizing the location benefits of the Games. Alltech will apply insights gained from five main lessons learned through the first Games experience, which are discussed in the following article. Knowledge and values: The financial services industry, Brennan, J. J. (2000). Knowledge and values: The financial services industry.Vital Speeches of the Day,66(17), 534.

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