Making the Most of Closing Signals

This article is part of the Sales Secrets Uncovered series where we share key learnings from our analysis of 211k+ sales calls spread over 3.8 million minutes and 12 months. Why? To uncover the stats that will help you sell better in 2022 and beyond!

This article is from the desk of our Senior Content Specialist, Anirban.

PS: Use this data responsibly. Correlation is ≠ causation. ???

“I saw the sign” sang Ace of Base, which would have made them excellent for sales.

Ah well, sales’ loss is music’s gain. Or loss, depending on what you think of 90’s Europop.

All of which is to say, today we are talking about signs and signals. Specifically, closing signals from prospects.

Now that even the leftover turkey sandwiches have been consumed, you are either a) Putting up your Christmas decorations, b) Doomscrolling on Twitter or c) Making those last minute calls to prospects to close out Q4 with a final hurrah.

This is an extremely revenue-critical period, which is why we need to be extra sensitive to prospect signals. Because, as it turns out, a lot of prospects make it pretty obvious that they are ready to close without outright saying so - which means a salesperson has to play detective and pick up on those signals.

According to our data, one in every three deals has some kind of closing signal from prospects.?

What do we mean by a closing signal? For the purposes of this report, they are phrases or snippets of conversation that reveal an inclination to move ahead with a deal - either to sign on the dotted line or to move ahead to the next phase of the sales conversation.

However, just because a prospect has given a closing signal doesn’t mean the deal is a guaranteed thing. So while a closing signal from a prospect does correspond to an increased win rate (and a lower loss rate), there still remains plenty of cracks for a deal to slip through.

So what should you do when a prospect sends out these signals? How do you go from “confident” to a “sure thing”. How do you give the deal that liiiitle push over the finish line?

Well that’s what we’re here to talk about.

How about a free trial?

Imagine taking a puppy home from a shelter. Could you possibly return the good boy (or girl) a month later? Not unless you have a heart of absolute stone.?

Well, if you have a product as lovable as a puppy dog (a tall order, we admit), a limited time free trial does wonders. By the time the trial is over, the prospect loves it so much, it’s a sale!

Exude confidence that the deal is done.

Sometimes, you just have to assume the best and act like it. A simple statement like “So I’ll send the document over to you by Wednesday for you to sign.” works wonders in nudging a fence-sitting prospect into customer territory. If that sounds a little too harsh, you can even make it an option, like “When should I send the document to sign? Would you prefer it on Monday, or is it better that I send it by tomorrow evening?”

“If you order now…!”

There’s a reason why late night infomercials always say that if you order right now, you get the electric toothbrush for free. It works. A hint that an offer is a limited time thing and may become more expensive in a while could be just what your prospect needs to be spurred into action.

Be wary of this, though - overuse in infomercials has not done this technique any favors, so some prospects might be turned off by this.

Paint a word picture

Sometimes, you just need to paint a picture for your prospect. No, don’t crack open your crayons just yet, we mean a word picture. Describe how your prospects' life would be at this moment if they had your solution at hand. Maybe right after a product demo, tell them “You were talking about how long it takes your new sales people to ramp up. Well, if you had our solution, your hires from last month would be ready for deployment by today!”

Take the help of data

Sometimes, it’s not about imagination. Sometimes, people respond to data more strongly. So make an honest list of pros and cons about your solution as it applies to your prospect’s business. Maybe even include numbers (e.g.“15% more revenue per quarter would put your yearly revenue over the XYZ mark!”) That just speaks to some people.

Go forth and close!

Of course, there’s no formula that guarantees that you will close a deal. All you can do is give yourself an edge, and we hope these tips will help you do just that.

And that’s it for this issue of Sales Secrets Uncovered with Wingman. Catch you next week with part 2 of this mini-series on sales objections!