The best way to “close a sale” is to make sure the buyer has a great experience throughout the sales process. The buyers experience counts. Your competitors are selling similar products and services in many cases, so your advantage to close more business is the experience the buyer has throughout their buying process.
Set the expectation early; tell the buyer what the typical process is so they know where they are in the buying process at all times. Ensure they understand the entire process.
In today's podcast, we give you strategies to close the sale faster and better while at the same time adding value.
Many sales pros have not practiced and memorized any sales closing statements. So when the quote “time comes to close” you can’t close, don’t close, forget to close, you’re are terrified of closing, and paranoid about getting turned down. Some are so negative they expect a “no” before they even start selling.
Before we go any further, I want to refer you to the 8/73 survey. An insightful bit of interesting research on both sales pros and customers.
The research determines how sales pros react to objections from customers. Among other things, here’s what they found:
It turns out that 92 percent gave up after four objections, leaving only 8 percent of salespeople still selling. That’s the “8” part of the 8/73 survey.
The “73” comes from the second half of the research. This half of the survey asked customers to discuss the kind and quantity of objections they voiced to the seller. The research revealed that 73 percent of customers voiced five or more objections before being sure enough to place an order.
The survey proves that 8 percent of sellers win 73 percent of the business. Those are good odds if you are one of the 8 percent side of the equation.
Closing is not this BIG moment that happens at the end of the sales cycle. You should master 6 closing statements. Remember, closing begins from the opening conversation to rapport to questing and handling objections and so on.
Closing a sale, more often means, ensuring the customer has a quality experience when working with you throughout their buying process.
Here are a few examples of how to make sure your buyer has a quality buying experience with you.
Great closers understand that closing is a “process” and “natural progression.” They also understand the necessity of mastering closing statements and use them as necessary.
Too much emphasis is placed on closing in sales training, in my view.
Closing is a natural occurrence that you can count on when you’ve successfully completed the sales puzzle, here are 6 examples:
o Evoke emotions and clearly identify buying criteria
o Demonstrate the value of your offering regarding (improved efficiency, manage risk, reduce cost, and revenue growth)
We’ll talk about this in a future podcast and on my Blog, but I want to state something right now. Opening the first meeting with the buyer is critical. If you don’t open well, you will likely never get close to the close.
Quick Note: If at any time, the buyer decides they want to move forward and complete the transaction your job is to shut up and consummate the sales as quickly as possible.
Let review types of closes.
Many of the closes I am going to mention today have been around for years. However, that does not mean they are obsolete. Sometimes they will work other times they will rub the buyer the wrong way. The point here is you should be able to identify types of closes and master 4 or 5 so that you can use them successfully.
As I go through the examples, I will let you know when best to apply each close. Closing is not meant to be manipulative. Your job is to use casually the proper close to fit the situation, giving yourself a better chance to close the sale.
Remember, if you don’t have a rapport with the buyer, these will come across as scripted and controlling.
The very best close is the one your buyer offers after a solid conversation. Your buyer may say something like: “Great, how to we make this happen?”
Ben Franklin Close – Ben Franklin would create a list of all the good and bad related to the potential outcomes. Draw a line down the center of the page. The good on one side of the page and the bad on the other side of the page. When the list is overwhelmingly positive, your buyer recognizes the wisdom of the decision. “Ms. Prospect, would it help if we listed the pros and cons to help you decide? Let do this, draw a line down the middle of this page and list the pros on one side and the cons on the other.”
Handshake Close – When you look the buyer in the eye and just know the deal is done, offer to shake hands over it. This is a great technique because it assumes you are peers, equals working together to close the deal. Don’t wait until all of the paperwork is completed to shake hands. While standing and offering your hand, say, “I am looking forward to completing this process with you.”
Summary Close –You are listing, all the things the buyer is going to receive. Especially focusing on benefits as well as the problems eliminated. Here’s how it works. “ Mr. Prospect, let quickly review what happens when you work with COMPANY NAME and me. You increase your close ratio by 25%; You will improve your margins by 10%. You will grow you sales pipeline by 50% in the next 90 days.
There are many other closing techniques available such as:
Testimonial Close, Trial Close, Free Trial Close, Calendar Close. You can “Google” any of these closes and get the details. But for now, work with the closing techniques I’ve outlined in this podcast. Master them so that they flow naturally, helping you close more business.
You can join The Motivated Seller Newsletter where we discuss closing techniques often and offer FREE downloads that you can use and share with your peers.
