Assessment On: Closing Customers Faster by Slowing Down by Andy Elliott

Welcome to Your Assessment Test

Topic: 10-Sales Training // Closing Customers Faster by Slowing Down by Andy Elliott

This assessment is designed to evaluate your understanding of the key concepts covered in Closing Customers Faster by Slowing Down by Andy Elliott. Topics include the distinction between advancing a sale and closing a sale, identifying the true cause of objections using the binary objection diagnostic, and understanding why slowing down communication at critical moments can increase trust, clarity, and commitment.

The assessment also covers effective closing strategies such as the sniper versus machine gun principle of communication, the Google-it close, the commitment evidence close, the third-party close technique, and methods for helping prospects gain the confidence needed to make decisions they are already inclined to make. These concepts are designed to improve closing effectiveness while reducing resistance and pressure during the sales process.

Assessment Instructions

The assessment consists of 10 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs).
Each question carries 1 mark.
Only one option is correct for each question.
There are no negative marks for incorrect answers.
Questions skipped or left unanswered will be considered as 0 marks.
Retakes are not permitted once the assessment has been submitted.
The total duration of the assessment is 15 minutes.
The timer will start automatically once you enter your Name and Email Address and click on "Start Test".
Ensure you have a stable internet connection and complete the assessment within the allotted time.
Read each question carefully and submit your responses before the timer expires.

All the best!

Name

Andy says 'every word is dangerous' when you slow down and become precise. What does he mean by a word being 'dangerous' and how should a telecaller calibrate which words to slow down on and which to deliver at normal pace?

Dangerous words should be avoided because they trigger fight-or-flight

A dangerous word is one that carries enough weight to shift the prospect's emotional state — to create doubt desire urgency or certainty. Slowing down on these words amplifies their impact because the prospect's attention is fully on them. Normal-pace words carry the conversational load; dangerous words carry the emotional payload. A telecaller should identify the one or two words per sentence that contain the most emotional charge and deliver those with deliberate pace allowing the rest of the sentence to flow naturally

Every word should be delivered at the same slow pace for consistency

Dangerous words are emotionally charged words that might offend the prospect

Andy demonstrates the think-it-over reframe — 'I haven't given you enough information not to think about it' — which agrees with the objection rather than fighting it. Why is agreeing with an objection more effective than countering it at the advance-the-sale stage?

Agreeing makes the prospect feel respected which makes them more likely to buy

Agreeing works because it delays the close and gives the salesperson more time

When you agree with an objection you remove the adversarial dynamic — the prospect was prepared for pushback and gets none which disarms their defensiveness. By agreeing that they don't have enough to think about yet you simultaneously validate them and create a logical reason to move to the next stage. Countering creates resistance; agreeing creates collaboration

Agreeing is only effective with analytical prospects who need logic

What does Andy say you should do with your speed of speech when a prospect starts stalling or resisting?

Switch to a louder volume to recapture their attention

Slow down — make your words more deliberate and precise to make their ears work and pull them into what you are saying

Maintain your current pace to avoid signaling that you noticed the resistance

Speed up to maintain energy and prevent them from disengaging

What does Andy say about 'research shows' as a phrase in closing?

It is a technique for delaying the close while building more value

It should only be used when you can cite a specific study

It is an authority frame that adds credibility to a claim — saying 'research shows' signals to the prospect's brain that what follows is backed by evidence rather than just the salesperson's opinion

It is a manipulative phrase that prospects distrust

Andy's 'how did that feel?' technique accesses the prospect's emotional memory of a past positive state. This is the inverse of Jeremy Miner's future pacing technique which accesses an imagined future positive state. What determines which technique is more appropriate for a given prospect and what does the choice reveal about the importance of prospect diagnosis in closing?

Future pacing is always more effective because it creates a stronger emotional state

How did that feel is for younger prospects while future pacing is for older ones

The appropriate technique depends on what the prospect has to work with emotionally. A prospect who has previously experienced the desired outcome — was once fit once financially successful once in a great relationship — has a real emotional memory to access making emotional recall more powerful than future imagination. A prospect who has never experienced the desired state has no emotional memory to access making future pacing the stronger tool. Choosing correctly requires the salesperson to understand the prospect's history — which is why discovery questions earlier in the call are essential to selecting the right close

Emotional recall is always more effective because it is based on real experience

Andy's binary diagnostic — 'it's usually one of two things' — narrows the think-it-over objection to either the product or the numbers. Why does narrowing to two specific options produce more actionable information than asking an open-ended 'what's on your mind?'

An open-ended question allows the prospect to give a vague or deflecting answer — 'I just need time' — that gives the salesperson nothing to work with. A binary diagnostic forces the prospect to commit to one of two specific categories either of which reveals exactly what objection to address. Precision in the question produces precision in the answer

Narrowing to two options reduces the likelihood of the prospect revealing an unworkable objection

Open-ended questions take too long to answer in a closing context

Binary questions are more polite than open-ended questions

According to Andy what does 'thought is instantaneous' mean in the context of the think-it-over objection?

People think too slowly to make good decisions in a sales environment

Salespeople should respond to objections instantly without pausing

Actual thought happens in an instant — if they need to 'think about it' they actually need more information not more time. The objection is really an information gap in disguise

Prospects decide whether to buy in the first 30 seconds of a call

What is the 'how did that feel?' technique according to Andy?

Asking the prospect to recall a time in the past when they had the result they currently want — feeling fit confident successful — so they emotionally reconnect with that state and feel motivated to get it back

Asking the prospect how they feel about the price

Asking the prospect how they feel about your product presentation

Asking how it felt when a competitor let them down

What does Andy mean by the 'sniper vs machine gun' analogy in sales?

A sniper uses one precisely chosen word or question to hit the exact point that moves the prospect — a machine gun sprayer throws many words hoping something lands often accidentally preventing the close by saying the wrong thing

Snipers work alone while machine gunners work in teams

A sniper closes on the first call while a machine gunner makes many calls

Snipers target high-value prospects while machine gunners target volume

Andy says 'I don't think we have a product problem — we have a people problem.' What specific investment does this diagnosis require from a telecaller who accepts it as true?

Invest in a mentor who will provide better scripts and frameworks

Accept that performance improvements must come from personal skill development — communication mastery closing technique emotional intelligence belief in self — rather than from product improvements better scripts or more leads. The constraint is the person not the tools which means the only path to better results is becoming a better version of yourself

Focus on qualifying prospects more strictly to avoid difficult conversations

Invest in better lead lists and CRM technology