Table of Contents
The best sales closing techniques you can use to close more sales:
- Setting Goals
- Defining Your Target Audience
- Using Active Listening
- Establish Introductions
- Anticipate Challenges
- Incorporate Fast Track Selling
- Build A Mutual Action Plan
- Use The Takeaway Close
- Use The Puppy Dog Method
- Remain Confident
- Create Inbound Sales
- Know The Decision-Maker
- Identify Pain Points
There is no singular moment when you go in for the close because, if you’re wise, sales closing happens throughout the sales process.
The prospect signing on the dotted line is a natural conclusion, not an event.
The world of sales isn’t so different from the world of fishing. You may have tons of leads and prospects, but success ties back to closing the deal.
Win over more leads by following the advice of sales professionals who’re closing sales day in and day out.
We tapped a few top sales leaders to share their customer-centric approach that’ll help you turn those “No’s” into “Yes’s.”
How Can AI Be Used To Increase Sales?
Sales closing, or getting a prospect to agree to a deal and sign a contract, is how reps make their quota and how businesses grow revenue.
It represents the culmination of all your efforts. You put in the time and made a strong case for why your solution can alleviate the prospect’s pain points.
The Best AI-Powered Tools For Every Sales Rep
You’re not the only salesperson who feels apprehensive about the close.
However, without that feeling of risk, successfully closing a sale wouldn’t be so thrilling — which drives salespeople to continually strive for more.
Because sales professionals are expected to generate the best possible win rates for their effort, many closing sales techniques have been developed over the years.
There’s no one way to close a sale. Your approach will shift based on the prospect with whom you’re engaging and their needs.
But this curated list of tried-and-true methods provides a template of what strategies to deploy and when.
Here are a few proven closing techniques, and why they’re so effective.
Will AI And Machine Learning Replace Sales Managers?
Do you know that the top sales producers in the sales world generally outperform the bottom producers 10 to one? That’s a big difference.
Salespeople with monthly goals that feel impossible, like selling to 200 clients, will instantly lower morale.
One goal isn’t enough to motivate someone to complete a long project, but setting small, more obtainable daily tasks will.
If you want to be one of those top producers, you need to set high goals. You need to be committed to being above average and truly being great.
We Need More Trust In Machines To Do The Job
Sometimes, a lead isn’t in the market for what you have to offer—that’s okay! The key is finding that out in the early stages of the sales process to save time and energy for everyone involved.
Plus, it’s a lot easier to close the deal when it’s clear why a potential customer is a good fit for your product or service
How Can AI Support Sales?
The 70/30 is an oldie but a goodie. Yes, friendliness and charisma are essential in being a sales rep. These are some of the strong characteristics people look for in their sales team.
But don’t mistake them with chattiness. As a general rule among salespeople, let the prospect do 70% of the talking. Minimize your chatter to 30%.
The worst thing any sales rep can do in an attempt for a sales closure is to always talk about what they’re selling.
As another benefit, active listening will create a less pressurized sales environment.
Active listening is the process of paraphrasing, repeating back, or asking questions based on what is said.
Leads are more concerned about their issues, and sometimes they’re not even sure where the issues truly lie.
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This is a simple step that very few salespeople implement.
When you close a sale, this is a time when your prospects are very inclined to want to introduce you to other people like themselves who you might be able to help.
Be sure to ask them for introductions and referrals when closing the sale.
The Need For Automation In Sales Organizations
A few objections you might hear from customers include:
- I don’t have the time.
- I don’t have the money.
- Your product is too expensive.
- Please just email me more information.
- We don’t need this at the moment.
You need solid answers to these objections before getting on a sales call.
Anticipating and dealing with these objections is a natural part of your journey to close a sale, but it requires adequate preparation ahead of time—otherwise, you’re leaving your deal up to chance.
What's The Best Way To Use AI?
This is where salespeople make an offer that includes a special benefit that prompts immediate purchase.
For example: “This is the last one at this price.” “We’ve got a 20% discount just for customers who sign up today.”
This technique works because it creates a sense of urgency.
Prioritizing Becomes Easier
Reps must ask prospects probing questions. Effective salespeople focus on closing a sale as soon as a conversation with a prospect begins.
Through a series of questions, they develop desire in the client.
Sales Forecasting Gets A Boost
This technique capitalizes on people’s desire for things they can’t have, also known as reverse psychology.
Note that your solution “might not be a good fit” for them or that their company “may not qualify for your solution like other companies have.”
If you’ve already laid the benefits on them, and they don’t seem interested in certain aspects, take them off the table.
Offer cost savings by removing features they might not need, and see if they’re more inclined to take the offer.
Prospects often ask for price reductions or add-ons because they know they have the upper hand and know you expect it.
The takeaway close is effective because you’re doing the opposite of what a salesperson typically does, which is sell, so the prospect doesn’t expect it.
Upselling And Cross-Selling Becomes More Obvious
This plan holds both parties accountable on the deadline and implementation to help you cinch the deal.
MAPs create shared accountability and ensure that both sides are on the same page at every step of the process.
Even the most experienced angler doesn’t catch every fish that swims by. The same goes for great salespeople—they’re not going to convert every lead into a customer.
Mutual action plans go by multiple names—execution plans, go-live plans, or mutual close plans, to name a few.
No matter what you call it, it’s a mutually agreed-upon plan that lays out who does what and when.
Relationships Grow Stronger
This close sales technique comes from the idea that if a pet store offered to let you “test a puppy out” and take it home for a few days, you would fall in love and never return it.
In a puppy dog close, offer a free trial of your product with no strings attached.
The hope is that the prospect finds your product so indispensable that after their little test drive, they can’t bear to part with it.
Customer Lifetime Value Improves
Have the conviction to confidently ask for the sale when it’s time, and don’t make major sacrifices just to take the customer on.
Live in the friendly and strong zone, and your energy will be infectious, (yes, even through video demos and phone calls with prospects—hoorah inside sales).
Your prospects will be able to feel your confidence, which, when it’s coupled with being friendly (not overly confident), builds their trust in you.
And like in any relationship, nothing is sexier than trust and confidence.
Unfortunately, sales rely a lot on likability and physical appearance, so use your personality when speaking to a client.
Even in emails, small touches like a sarcastic or unique cadence will show through and feel relatable. The best sales closers use humor to sell.
If you get a prospect to laugh, you can get them to buy, so focus on creating a light-hearted, relaxing client-focused interaction.
Best Practices Get Better
Inbound sales is a strategy meant to attract and retain high-quality prospects who want to convert.
The Potential Future Of AI For Sales Processes
This closing technique draws on the power of positive thinking.
This true power move requires confidence in yourself and your product.
In the assumptive sales close, you move forward assuming that the prospect wants to buy and that the deal is pretty much done.
If you believe that you will close this deal from the first piece of email outreach, it can have an incredible effect on the rest of the sales process.
The key here is to be assertive without being aggressive, which can ruin the rapport and scare the prospect off.
It’s also important to make sure the assumptive close happens right after you’ve driven home the benefits of your offer, so it’s fresh in the prospect’s mind.
How does AI Help Increase Sales?
“Did you set the following meeting during that proposal meeting or during that presentation meeting?”
So often, they respond, “Oh no. I didn’t. I just figured that I would call them in a week.”
Here’s the thing: Things fall apart when you leave a meeting with unclear next steps. Always set the next meeting during your current meeting.
Set a time and date for your presentation meeting if you’re in an early discovery meeting. Schedule a phone call to follow up if you’re in a presentation meeting.
How is AI Used in Marketing and Sales?
Are you talking to the right person? If not, how do you get to the right person? So much of sales closing requires getting the correct people in the room who have the power to call shots.
You’ll want to suss this out earlier on in the sales process when you’re qualifying leads.
How Is AI Used In Business?
Make sure you’re able to articulate the business value of your offering.
You should ensure that you’re talking about key business drivers such as reduced operating costs, increased sales conversation rates, or improved efficiency.
If you’ve just provided them with new information about your product or service, ask, “Does this sound like something that would be valuable to your company? Does this meet a specific need or pain point?”
When you are trying to close a hard sale, honesty and passion are often your only allies to convince the buyer to settle on a deal.
You need to make sure that you truly believe in what you’re selling to close on the transaction.
It’s imperative to engage your prospect in a discussion. This helps you/them determine if your offering makes sense for them.
Here are some good ones to start with:
- How are you currently handling your needs in this area?
- What are your objectives relevant to the business drivers this product/service addresses?
- What initiatives do you already have in place to get there?
By getting that answer, you are immediately creating value for the solution you provide.
After exerting effort into prying what your prospect needs, these questions prompt them to answer you directly and close the deal without being aggressive and coming off as pushy.
By keeping your ear to the ground — and assuming good intent from the start — you’ll bring authority and direction to your sales process that wouldn’t be there otherwise.
When you know your product is a good fit, your lead just needs a quick reminder of all the things they agreed would work for them.
Can AI Predict Sales?
Ever notice how the doctor asks you a series of questions about your symptoms before prescribing a remedy?
Sales representatives can learn a thing or two from their physician’s technique. Instead of a sales pitch, probe into your prospects’ symptoms.
Identify their pain points so you can determine what exactly is causing them.
After discovering the source, you should point out how your solutions can address them.
That’s how you can have a successful sales closure then.
The Human Touch Persists
Channels could include the phone, email, LinkedIn, or other social channels. SMS marketing is becoming more popular amongst sales companies.
But keep in mind that cold calling usually isn’t effective—most customers often reject or ignore phone calls from a business or unknown number.
Regularly communicate with potential customers on their preferred channels to continue building your relationship with them.
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