One Phrase to Improve Your Closing Ratio
Shawn Casemore
Keynote Speaker, Sales Kickoff Speaker, Sales Training, Sales Coaching. ?? Enabling B2B Sales Leaders and Sales Teams to Achieve Unstoppable Sales?. ??Author of The Unstoppable Sales Machine.??
When I was in my earlier twenties, I sold cars for a period of time.
There’s an industry that has changed dramatically!
It was commonplace for a prospect to ask for features on their car that weren’t available. They might ask for a sunroof, a different colour (than the one we had in stock), or even a demo vehicle (which would often have a few miles on it, and as a result it would be discounted).
In my early days of selling, my answer was always “Well, we don’t have that colour (or one with a sunroof, etc.) right now, but I can see if I can get you one.”
That typically led to parting ways with the prospect and returning to my desk, only to eventually find an option that had the feature they wanted … but guess what?
I could never reach the prospect again.
They disappeared (likely to head down the street to a different dealer and buy a car that may or may not have had the feature they were looking for).
How do I know this?
Well, I thought everything was fine, until I had two prospects call me in the same week to tell me I was great, but they had bought a car elsewhere.
You heard that correctly: they took time out of their day to call me to say “thanks, but no thanks.”
Talk about a shot to the heart.
That’s when I learned a phrase that made all the difference in the world.
It was simple, yet effective, and designed to set aside their objections and keep our conversation moving forward.
Here it is (drum roll) …
“If I can get that for you, would you be willing to sign today?”
Simple, isn’t it?
Now, you might say “but Shawn, what if you couldn’t get one with a sunroof?"
That’s not the point.
You see, what this phrase did was flush out any further objections. It ensured that the sunroof was not the only item that was holding the prospect back from buying.
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You know what was interesting? Most times it had nothing to do with the sunroof or the vehicle being a demo.
Today, I teach all of the sales professionals I work with to use this simple phrase when they sense the prospect is ready to buy but there is something holding them back.
Don’t worry if you can actually get them what they want. Your goal is to ensure that is all they want.
So, you might say “If I can add that to your policy, would you be willing to sign today?”
OR
“If I can get you that finance rate, would you be willing to sign today?”
If they say yes, then get out your paperwork and tell them you will do your best to get what they want (presuming it is reasonable), and that you need a signature to confirm they are serious about moving forward.
That’s it. One simple phrase that will move you from wondering where you went wrong to looking at more proposals and quotes signed back.
Try it out, and comment below on the outcome!
Best,
Shawn
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