9 Fundamentals of closing the sale

Much space, energy and hand-wringing has been devoted to product knowledge, technical expertise and the appropriate compliance regime to give advice, offer suggestions or lead people to making decisions.

Yet at the paying end of the process little is mentioned about asking for the business, gaining commitment to proceed or in simple terms closing the sale.

You can be the most technically adept, product savvy compliant adviser in the known universe and not earn a cracker if you don’t know how to ask for the business and gain commitment to enact your advice in a reasonable time frame. Time is money. So shorten the time to gain agreement to act..

Technical boffins, marketing people and product princes and princesses don’t sell. That is left to those who meet prospects in the flesh or online. People like you who not only sell but service and manage client’s hopes, ambitions and expectations.?

Closing the sale can apply to the implementation of concepts, ideas, strategies, tactics, and a service offer as well transactional activities like finance or insurance.

Here are nine fundamentals you can apply to your business today.

Fundamental 1: Confirm who the person is who makes the buying decision

Not much sense knocking yourself out if you pitch to the wrong spouse, business partner or board member. Simply ask who takes the initiative for making decisions.

Fundamental 2: Ask lots of interactive and interesting open-ended questions during your presentation

The more collateral you can gather by good questions the more ways you can position yourself to close, based on emotion, logic or sound facts

Fundamental 3: Did you describe the benefits of your offer and give examples of them for the customer?

What are the benefits of your product or service? List them before you meet for the closing interview so you can repeat them to your potential client. If you cannot identify and articulate the benefits how can you expect your prospect to? People buy benefits and solutions, not features or technical dissertations.

Fundamental 4: Did you actually ask the client to buy directly or more subtly?

So often people are waiting to buy your offers. But, tragically, if you don’t ask them to commit they won’t. The questions can be as simple as “Do you wish to pay yearly or by monthly credit card?” Having commitment questions ready and rehearsed to ask makes you look competent and boosts your confidence.

Fundamental 5: Discover the reasons why your customer would like to buy from you

This can be truly amazing from saving money or time to relief from complexity to love, fear or being cleverer than their relatives. Find out why people really want to buy. Then you structure your presentation to play to that desire to deliver the sales outcome you require. Isn’t that is for people to buy your advice or implement your suggestions?

Fundamental 6: Did you find out the major benefit why your prospect would want to buy your advice, product or service?

What is the major benefit they are buying? It is not product. It is what the product or advice will do for them. Is it convenience, price, to stop their partner from nagging them, achieving a goal, to just ticking another item off their “to do” list. How does your advice make them feel happier, better off, safer, richer or better educated??

Fundamental 7: Did you make lots of little closes rather than one big, threatening close at the end of your presentation?

This is where the technique of trail closing becomes invaluable. Ask small questions that check the temperature of the interview, Comments such as: How is this looking? Pretty simple when you think about it, isn’t it? You do like (mention a feature), don’t you? You build up a credit of positive answers that are easily converted into a simple agreement to proceed with your recommendations, that is not confrontational at the end of a presentation.

Fundamental 8: Did you try more than one time to close the sale?

Often people baulk initially at making a decision just because it is human nature. If you don’t proceed to ask in different ways with different methods, you can miss out on agreement to proceed. Persistence is rewarded if you can come back with a compromise, increased benefits offer or new funding offer. Don’t give in at the first refusal to commit.

Fundamental 9: Do you have a range of different closing techniques?

There are a myriad of ways to ask for the commitment using techniques such as:

·????? Dual Choice

·????? Reflex

·????? Appeal to a Higher Authority

·????? Silent

·????? Reduction to the Ridiculous

·????? Assumptive/Presumptive

·????? Puppy Dog

·????? FOMO. Fear of missing out

·????? Limited time offers

If you haven’t armed yourself with these simple tools and tactics then you will continue to be stymied when it comes to asking for commitment and most importantly, getting agreement to proceed.

Activity

Use this checklist after your next sales call whether you are successful or not. Which of these fundamentals did you apply? Which did you miss out on? It will help you to improve your capability to “close with class”.

This article is reprinted with permission from Jim Prigg CEO and founder of Knowledgemaster International Pty Ltd. Knowledgemaster International is an online resources company that delivers practical communications, interaction, sales and soft skills tips, tactics, techniques.