How do salespeople close deals? What are some of their best tactics?
Salespeople spend hours honing their skills and learning new ways to close deals. They study sales books, attend seminars, and read blogs to learn the latest strategies.
There are five basic steps to every successful deal. The first step is to identify the prospect. Next, you’ll want to determine whether they’re a good fit for your company or service. Then, you’ll need to establish trust. This means building rapport and establishing credibility. Finally, you’ll need to close the deal. Each stage requires a different skill set.
The 5 Sales Closing Steps
Identify the Prospect: First, find out everything about the prospect. Make sure you have all the information you need so that you can make an informed decision.
Determine if the Client Is a Good Fit: There are three kinds of companies to which you should be selling. You must choose the right one depending on your needs.
Establish Trust: Once you’ve determined what kind of client you’d like to work with, you need to build trust. Find out what motivates them, get to know them personally and professionally, and understand why they bought from someone else before. You may even want to get references from previous clients.
Close the Deal: Now it’s time to close the sale. Have your product or service ready in hand. Be confident and assertive. Your attitude will help influence others’ opinions.
What’s the best way to close a sale? It’s not always as easy as this, but it can certainly be done. Here are five proven closing techniques used by real sales professionals.
1. State Benefits (Value) – Use benefits statements often, such as “You won’t regret hiring me!” or “Your business will look great.” If they don’t care about the benefit, then you probably aren’t speaking directly to their true interests. But when you use these statements, it shows that you actually care because you’re trying to provide value. You’re making a connection between the buyer and yourself.
2. Add Emotion – When you tell a potential customer how important they are to you, they will usually feel happier or worse based on how you say it. For example, “I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner, my schedule was crazy” or “This opportunity just called my name.” Or better yet, go straight to emotion using phrases like I love you, I really care about you, and I admire you. This is powerful stuff! The more you connect with people emotionally, the more likely they are to buy from you.
3. Ask Questions – Asking questions helps you figure out what problems or issues the customer might have. These types of questions also show interest and respect for their opinion. In addition, asking questions makes them feel valued and respected.
4. Commitment – People tend to do most of their buying during big events, like holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. However, you shouldn’t wait until then to try to sell. Every day is a good day to approach customers and ask them to consider switching providers or products. Even though some days might not seem ideal, remember that each day leads to the next. So take advantage of any chance you get to make a sale! This technique works especially well at coffee shops, grocery stores, farmers markets, and bookstores.
5. Conclude With Confidence – Once you think the customer understands the importance of your offer, let them know that you’ll send out an email confirming things within 24 hours. Also tell them that your website has been updated so people can get an idea of what your services or products are before they hire you. Finally, conclude by telling them once again how much you appreciate the opportunity to meet. Then follow up immediately via phone, text, or email.
How to Close a Sale
In order to win customers, you have to first gain their confidence. One of the best ways to do that is to let them know how much they mean to you. And if you’re serious about winning them over, you must commit to consistently showing them your dedication. By following through on your promises, you reinforce your credibility. Most importantly, you begin to establish relationships built around mutual trust and goodwill. Building rapport with prospects not only builds their confidence in you, but it also creates opportunities for future interactions. As a result of these positive interactions, you start building the relationship that ultimately leads to sales.
Traditional Sales Closing Techniques
- Now or Never Closes
- Summary Closes
- Sharp Angle Closes
- Question Closes
- Assumptive Closes
- Takeaway Closes
- Soft Closes
Now or Never Closes
If you want to close sales now or within the next 30 minutes, there’s no need to use traditional sales closing techniques. You don’t need to be formal or even friendly. Instead, you can simply “hit them with cold hard facts” and ask them to act right away. There’s nothing wrong with this method as long as you are sincere and honest about your expectations. You may be surprised by how many people will agree to whatever you ask because they are desperate enough to take action regardless of whether it benefits them or not.
Summary Closes
Summarizing a prospective client’s situation gives a buyer the feeling that his decision has already been made. For example, say you sell software: “Our product saves time and money while helping our clients stay ahead of the competition. We believe we provide the best solution to help businesses achieve more than ever before. If you’d like to know more, please give me a call, fill out a form, or contact us online.” When using summary closes, it should include all of the information necessary for a prospect to decide whether he wants to continue reading about your company or products. It’s important to emphasize exactly why someone would benefit from working within your business. Don’t forget the benefits that your business provides!
Sharp Angle Closes
If you want to make sure that every potential customer gets a thorough understanding of your products and services, you may need to use sharp angle closes. What does this mean? Sharp angle closes allow you to present one primary reason as to why they should buy from you instead of giving a laundry list of reasons why other companies may be better options. For example, if you sell landscaping equipment, you may show that you’re an expert at installing underground utilities — this is likely a primary focus point of most homeowners who want landscaper services. Also, it’s beneficial to highlight some specific features that distinguish you from your competitors. This will give your product a clear advantage and allow you to stand out in the minds of potential customers.
Question Closes
A question close is just what its name suggests. When you ask prospects a simple question, you encourage them to share feedback based upon their experience. This can lead to a great deal of value since the person asking the questions knows what kind of response she expects when it comes to answering her inquiries. An effective question close might look something like this: “How often do you need landscaping work done?” This question allows you to learn which aspect of your service they enjoy most. Based on that knowledge, you can tailor your marketing messages to address those areas. Another benefit that you get with question closes is that they give you insight into the needs of your prospect and the issues that concern her the most. So if you’re looking to expand your business, you’ll have a much easier time identifying new prospects and getting them to purchase your products or services.
Assumptive Closes
An assumptive close is also known as a “guarantee close.” These types of closes assume that the buyer agrees with the terms that you’ve presented him. Therefore, he won’t object to any of the points that you’ve mentioned. Because these closures give the impression that you trust your prospects, they’ll feel much more comfortable agreeing to whatever you ask. The key is to make sure that your assumptions align with a buyer’s personal values and beliefs. Asking a client whether he believes in quality service could be a successful assumptive closed. It all depends on whether or not it really matters to him.
Takeaway Closes
The Takeaway Close is yet another type of close that requires certain circumstances to be met prior to making a sale. Essentially, you must first prove that you are worth buying from before you can offer up these kinds of sales strategies. You’ll need to make sure that you have answers to several basic questions before you start applying these kinds of sales techniques. For instance, you’ll have to determine how many customers you’d like to reach, where you expect to find them, and how much profit you’d like from each prospect. By doing so, you create a framework around which you can build future success. Use these guidelines to ensure that you succeed.
Soft Closes
Sometimes we refer to soft closing simply as storytelling. Storytelling is used by sales professionals because it’s incredibly easy to understand, provides excellent results, and takes almost no effort whatsoever. There are three important things to keep in mind when using this strategy:
1) Create Stories That Connect
2) Tell Them In A Way They Can Relate
3) Craft Your Stories To Meet Their Needs
Soft closings are all about being true to yourself while creating stories that connect with your audience. Here are two examples: ·
Example 1 – Customer Service – You want to show this story because it explains the foundation behind everything that follows. You want to explain the importance and benefits of providing top-notch customer service.
Here’s how you could tell this story (example):
On behalf of our family company, I want to thank you for choosing us to take care of your home. We know how stressful life can get, especially during the holidays. Our goal has always been to provide our clients with an exceptional customer experience. From the moment we walk into a house until the last minute before the holiday party, our team makes sure that every detail is perfect. If there’s anything else that we can do to help you, don’t hesitate to let us know. We treat you like part of our family here at X Company..
· Example 2 – The Bottom Line –
What’s wrong with telling this story? Nothing. But, sometimes people use it without even realizing they’re doing it. Why would someone use a story like this? Well, maybe because it leaves out some aspects of the situation. And, that’s ok. People will accept information if it fits into their context. When they see something missing or incomplete, it causes cognitive conflict – they wonder why you left anything out. This gets you thinking about why they might leave something out.
When you follow the above steps, you’ll be able to apply soft closings to fit your needs perfectly.
What To Do After Closing a Sale
After your lead has agreed to purchase, the next step is typically called “closing.” What does it mean to close a deal? It means that one person now owns another person’s money. As soon as your lead commits to making a purchase, then you need to make it happen. Here are some tips on what to do after closing a sale:
Determine whether to ship the product immediately or ask your buyer for more time to prepare the order. Sometimes getting cash right away is better than expecting a payment later. This depends mostly on whether or not the business will make enough money to cover its costs.
Make sure the item arrives at its destination in good shape. Be professional, courteous, and respectful. Don’t forget to include shipping instructions and proper handling guidelines. Deliveries should arrive in plenty of time for Christmas delivery so that you have time to get ready for the big day. Remember to notify customers of any delays.
Make sure that the goods are checked thoroughly before installation. Have your customer sign off on any small defects that may affect performance. Once everything looks fine, it’s best to install the product so that you can test it properly.
Follow up frequently to ensure that the customer is satisfied. Ask them what they think of the product and how it works. Find out where there are any problems that weren’t covered in the contract. Also, find out what new features they’d like to see added to future products.
Ask your customer if they need any additional assistance after the sale is complete. You could offer discounts and other incentives to keep your relationship going strong. For example, you could arrange to pick orders up from homes to save customers time and effort. Of course, only do these things when they’re mutually beneficial. You could also give customers gift wrap services or complimentary gift wrapping for special events.
Remember that it takes time to establish a good relationship with each individual client. You’ll have to build trust over time by providing excellent service. Offer free consultations so that you can learn about their unique needs. Don’t rush into selling too much, though. Save sales for major purchases that customers really need.
Offering a trial period is usually a great idea. Customers appreciate being able to try a product first-hand. They know what they want but don’t necessarily understand all the ins and outs of using it. Give them an opportunity to feel comfortable with it before committing to buy. There is no reason to force clients to buy just because you need the money. If they are truly interested in your product, they will eventually become customers.
If you take care of your customers, they’ll often come back for more. Use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest to promote yourself. Your online reputation is important and social networking allows potential customers to see what others say about you. Make sure that those reviews are positive!
Use Google Analytics to track how many visitors you receive, where they came from, and why they left. Analyzing this information can help you determine what types of advertising campaigns are most effective. You can use analytics to create reports that rank various parts of your site based on traffic by month, week, or even hour.
You should always be thinking about ways to improve your business. Look at current trends and figure out which ones you should pay attention to. Try implementing ideas that seem promising.
Add special offers through email blasts. Some people prefer to buy large quantities of items on one occasion instead of waiting until they need specific supplies. Offers allow customers to purchase larger amounts of products without having to wait long periods between transactions. Include coupons and deals in every email blast that you send out.
Never let your website get neglected. When you start neglecting your website, your competition will step ahead of you. The fact that you aren’t keeping an eye on your digital presence means that potential customers might be missing out. Many customers browse websites for information and answers to questions. By not paying enough attention to your own business’ web presence, you may lose thousands of dollars.
Conclusion
Hopefully, some of the tips mentioned in this article were helpful in improving your business. It’s hard to succeed as a small business owner, but following these guidelines can make your efforts easier. Take what you’ve learned here and apply it to your own business. Good luck!
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