Friday, April 8, 2022

How To Close More Sales | Tips To 7 Figures & Beyond

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.”

What Is A Sales Strategy For Closing?

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.

Sales Process of Closing And Techniques

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.

Set High But Achievable Goals

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.

Define Your Target Audience

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

Practice The 70/30

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.

Have Sales Professionals Ask For Introductions

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.

Anticipate Excuses

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.

Incorporate Fast Track Selling

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.

Ask Questions

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.

The Takeaway Close

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.

Build A Mutual Action Plan (MAP)

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.

Puppy Dog

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.

Remain Confident

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.

Inbound Sales

Inbound sales is a strategy meant to attract and retain high-quality prospects who want to convert.

Assumptive Close

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.

Always Be One Step Ahead

“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.

Know The Decision-Maker

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.

Provide Value

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.

Identify Pain Points

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.

Use Multiple Channels

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.

Close When You're Sure

There is an old saying that closing a sale should be like proposing to your potential spouse — you shouldn’t be worried about the answer, and if you are, you’re doing it too soon.

Keep this philosophy in mind. If you aren’t sure how the client will react or if they will buy, then it is not time to close the sale. You need to do more work first.

When you’re sure, it’s time to close and discuss the details.

Sales Closing Mistakes

Less experienced salespeople will get caught up in ‘techniques.’

Even their sales leadership, can put pressure on the salesperson to do what I call ‘unnatural acts’ to close a deal – and it becomes inauthentic, and trust is broken.

Experience can be the best teacher for knowing what not to do. Here are common pitfalls that the smartest salespeople have learned to overcome.

Closing Once

One of the most common mistakes sales professionals make is to close only once. The more opportunities you give your customer, the better chance they’ll have to buy from you.

It’s important to keep in mind that you shouldn’t give up after just one try.

Using One Strategy

Have a few different closing strategies in your pocket. One of the biggest mistakes that closers make is having only one strategy for closing a sale.

You need to have different cards in your deck. If you can tell that one sales strategy isn’t working, you need to be able to quickly trade it out for a different approach right away.

Being Too Pushy

Here’s one of the best closing sales techniques. Always respect your customers and never be too pushy.

Yes, the sale is a big deal for you, but it’s also important to remember that what you’re selling has value, and your customer might not be ready.

If a customer is interested, they’ll say yes. If not, they’ll stay with what they’ve got.

Today’s prospects are too savvy to fall prey to any closing techniques. The more you try to do it, the less they want to do business with you.

Yes, the sale is a big deal for you, but it’s also important to remember that what you’re selling has value, and your customer might not be ready.

But then, if you’re lucky and skilled, you can wait for an opportunity to get a sharp angle close.

If you are unfamiliar with a sharp angle close, it can often come off as rude if you keep pushing too hard while trying to make up their mind, so don’t go out of your way to get them to buy.

If you have approval from your sales manager to do so, try the sharp angle close technique to catch these prospects by surprise.

When they ask, “Could you add on a few extra hours of onboarding at a discounted rate?” reply, “Sure. But if I do that for you, will you sign the contract today?”

Likely, they won’t be expecting this response — first, because you agreed to their request, and second, because you’ve proposed closing today.

Instead, put your emphasis on the front end of the sales cycle. Before you know it, your prospects will be saying, “How soon can we get going on this?”

You want people feeling like this is their decision (even if it is yours), so they feel like there was a genuine conversation and are more likely to say yes.

Not Creating A Sense of Urgency

A sense of urgency is a big part of closing techniques in sales, and it’s important to create that sense without forcing them. It’s famous art of the close.

You can use the implementation queue technique because it creates a sense of urgency and overcomes inertia when a prospect wants to buy — but it isn’t pulling the trigger.

It’s also a tried and true method for closing a sale over the phone

Questions in your closing sales statements also allow you to learn about the customer and what they’re interested in so that you can make an offer or recommend another product down the line.

Manipulate Customers

To manipulate someone, you first have to take advantage of them, typically through lies and deceit.

You should never lie about your product or service because you risk losing their trust; it’s a morally wrong thing to do.

Pressure selling implies you keep encouraging a client, even when they say no, by helping them understand why the product is beneficial or necessary.

Sales Closing Techniques vs. Sales Technique

The difference between sales closing techniques and sales techniques is that the former relates to a specific skill, whereas the latter is broader in scope.

Sales closing techniques are the specific skills a salesperson needs to close more deals to make them clearer.

While sales technique includes all the different strategies and tools, a sales professional can use them to close more deals.

Closing It Off With Kennected

Close Sales cycles can be long, especially for B2B selling. While these pro tips will help you close more deals, you’re sure to hear plenty of nos along the way, too.

Don’t view these experiences with a negative attitude—look for lessons that will help you improve.

A prospect juggling conversations with different vendors about different products might not remember all the great things your solution has to offer.

Nowadays, the best sales closing techniques are a mix of available resources, both offline and online.

While email marketing software has been proven to generate leads and contribute to converting them to paying customers, it’s not the only tool at your disposal.

Maybe you didn’t do quite enough research—now you know that you need to spend some time studying your prospect before pitching.

Whatever the issue is, you can always overcome your shortcomings and make more sales in the future. As they say, there is plenty of other fish in the sea.

A good sales process is the foundation of any successful sales organization.

That sometimes elusive, but always thrilling moment when you close a deal. That’s why we’re all here.

Kennected loves to help customers, chase new challenges, and in the process, hit those numbers.

Connect with customers and close more deals with Cloud Kennect.

The post How To Close More Sales | Tips To 7 Figures & Beyond appeared first on LinkedIn Automation, Messaging & Outreach Tool - Kennected.



source https://kennected.org/sales-closing-trechniques-that-work/

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