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How to Close a Sale #439
What’s the most difficult part of a sale? Through the years I’ve had numerous listeners tell me it’s “Closing.” People think that closing is hard and getting a prospect to put their name on a signed contract is a monumental task. Plus, people say it takes an assertive winner takes all attitude. That’s not how it works with a Taoist perspective. I must confess, there is a certain truth to the idea of ABC Always Be Closing. If you start the selling process out right with the intention of helping your prospects, and you advance the sale by patiently answering every question the buyer asks, customers will close themselves. This is wu-wei in action. That’s the topic for today.
Today’s Chapter: Advancing the Close
With each question
Comes an answer
The Master Seller
Advances closer
Step by step
Slowly finding common ground.
Today’s Story
Lee had listened attentively to Pat and Chris’s presentation as they walked through the list of wants, needs and company desires and Chris explained how their product addressed each item. In the conversation there was a lot of back and forth. By the end of the sales call both parties had a much better understanding of the challenges Lee faced.
As the conversation wound down, Pat kept waiting and waiting for Chris to close the deal, Soon it would be too late so Pat spoke up. “From what I understand it sounds like we have addressed most of your needs, correct?” Lee nodded “yes, accept for the magna feature and you said that would be available first quarter next year, right?” “That’s right!” said Pat “but it sounds like you don’t need it right now, right?” “Correct” said Lee, Pat went on “so it sounds like if you installed our product into your facility it would work for you, right? “ Yes”, agreed Lee.
Chris sat quietly, following the conversation like it was a tennis match.
Pat went one “so if we wanted to start on the roll out next month, who would be taking the lead on that in your facility?” Lee looked up and to the right, paused and said. “Oh that would be Sam”. “Great” said Pat and with effortless action, the conversation turned to the contract, pricing and the schedule in a very natural manner. Without a hard yes, the deal was won..
Afterwards Chris told Pat, “thanks for kicking off the close. I couldn’t figure out how to get started”. “ No problem” said Pat. “It’s actually easy when you’ve done the start of the sale correctly. You answered all their questions and had already talked about schedule and pricing. All we needed was for them to agree to get started. The deal closed itself.
Take Action Quote
I’m reminded of a quote by Seth Godin that says
“Don’t find customers for your products. Find products for your customers.”
Every answered question advance you closer to understanding if you can help your prospect. When selling is done right, both parties come to an agreement that a deal should be made. Closing isn’t’ about learning scripts and tricking people into saying yes. Closing is about advancing closer to a solution, a solution that works for the buyer.
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How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble
Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers. Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help, showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com
You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about helping others with their challenges and aspirations. I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketing, lead generation, copywriting, and most important the right selling mindset. Stop fearing sales and embrace it. Learn the selling secrets for non-sellers and start making a difference today. Here is the entire back catalog of episodes in the sales podcast. Look here https://www.salesbabble.com/sales-podcast-free-advice/
This is a production of Habanero Media https://habaneromedia.net
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