Being stuck trying to close a sale is one of the most frustrating situations that can interrupt one’s focus. Any agreement that has stalled creates a loss of control, and out of desperation can cause you to react emotionally and not objectively.
Continuously ask yourself: Why does the customer need this in their life right now?
Clear messages equal less brain power for the potential customer to process. The more complicated your message, the more complicated it will be for them to process. Keep it specific – and if you can answer your own message with clarity as to why they should buy now, then you’re already halfway there (just because they might be saving money is not the answer.) The answer lies on the other side of what’s in it for them to improve their situation, versus going with the competition. Bottom line: The best words win! That’s what increases the odds of selling. Buyers buy off of what they hear, not what you say! Reduce the noise of what is not relevant to the customer. The best closers sell not because of what they say – they close off of what they don’t say.
Closing is the “be all” and “end all” in sales. It’s the moment when all your efforts come together, the big payoff, the win. It’s the moment when all the time and energy you’ve spent is rewarded – but what happens if you can’t close? There’s nothing more frustrating to us as human beings then seeing an opportunity get stuck to your shoe like gum that stretches and sticks but won’t come off. It is emphatically important to find out what the customers wants versus what you want to sell. If you are selling something that they didn’t know they needed, then focus on the aspects of what will help that customer get to a better place in their own mind.
Closing can be the easiest thing to do when you have the right thoughts backed with due diligence about the person or company (i.e. an organized game plan), planned out to guide you (and more importantly, to help you guide your potential customer.) Once you’re able to TRULY put yourself in the customer’s shoes and understand their fears and concerns as if they were your own, you will surge to an incredible level of success in your efforts. Plan for the unexpected, the objections, the “no’s”, and finally – the “let me think about it.”
Always ask yourself: Does this help the customer solve a problem? If so, does the customer know that what you offer them will disarm their fear of change and help them to succeed? Remember: People either buy off of fear, or they don’t buy off of fear.
Be prepared by understanding the following:
What are the positives to what you’re proposing?
What’s is their return on investment?
The return on value?
Prestige vs efficiency?
Have you addressed their POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE TRIGGERS? Nothing will make closing a sale take longer than when a potential customer thinks you don’t have a clue about their concerns. If the sale won’t close, then that is due to an unresolved objection that has not been tapped into – thereby identifying the problem, and then transforming it into a solution.
Finally: Are you following up with a purpose? Follow up with a customer and have a talk track other than “Did you make a decision yet?” Have little problems that you keep solving until the problem becomes the solution – your sale!
– Tim S. Marshall, Author of “The Power of Breaking Fear”
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