You are great at selling — but you’re a little less great at actually closing sales.
You know better than to try some of the less attractive closing tactics like the “assumptive close” — intentionally treating a potential buyer like they’ve already agreed to do business with you.
But, you love the product you’re selling, and you believe in it. You’re professional, friendly and knowledgeable.
So, why is closing the deal so hard?
It will take practice and experience, but these five tools will help you close more sales with better-quality clients.
- Know your own power. Before you make a sales call, establish with your boss or team lead exactly what types of incentives, perks or discounts you’re able to approve in order to close a sale. There’s nothing worse than having a potential client say, “We’re ready to sign up if you can take 15% off the rate,” and you have to step outside to call the office to get approval on the discount. Create an established set of offerings you’re authorized to make in the moment.
- Know your audience. Often, you’ll be working with a prospect who doesn’t actually have the authority to make the final decision. It can be tricky to find out if this is the case, so tread lightly — you never want your buyer to feel like you don’t value them just because they don’t have total authority. Try some respectful, yet direct questions like, “Is there anyone else we can bring into this decision while I’m here?” to help you get in front of the decision-makers.
- Know your buyers needs. If the product you’re selling doesn’t fully align with what your buyer needs, be up front about it. Your honesty will register as integrity with the prospect, and your ability to bring a solution before they can point out the deficiency will help close the deal.
- Know their industry — not just your own. When you sit down with your potential clients, you are of course going to talk a lot about your product. You know every inch of it, and you’ll explain every feature and detail. But don’t stop there. Instead of talking only about your product, talk about your client’s industry. Do some research on their company. Demonstrate a knowledge of their history, needs and pain points, then paint a picture of how their business will benefit if they decide to work with you. They care about their business, not yours.
- Know what you’re selling. This is a riff on point number four, but it’s worth examining. You are not selling a product. You’re not selling a gadget, subscription, software, program or service. You are selling solutions. Be intentional with your language and examples: if your buyer signs with you, you will work alongside them to help solve problems. If you’re selling software, the solution you’re bringing is stability, better processes and ease-of-use. If you’re selling a piece of equipment, the solution you’re selling is efficiency, quality and great customer service. If you’re selling a service, let your buyer know that you’ll help them strengthen their own business, increase their bottom line or reach a larger audience.
So much of sales comes from experience, but as you start introducing these tools into your interactions with new prospects, you’ll start experiencing more and more success in closing deals.
And, you’ll start to see a shift in your mindset. This type of sales-thinking will create a desire in you to want to help your buyers succeed, and that helps you not just close deals, but retain happy clients.
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