We understand how closing more deals causes anxiety to salespeople—more than they would care to admit. It is gut-wrenching when you fail to make the sale. But what’s important is not beating yourself up (and down) when a deal falls through. It happens to all salespeople, even to the very best. Just keep doing it, keep learning, and keep practicing.
Here are some tips that you can integrate into your strategies to help you close more deals.
- Prospect very well
Mark Hunter says that to close at full price, “start with prospects who can pay full price.” When we spend time with a prospect only to lose them when we try to close, we immediately think we need to improve our closing skills. There might not be anything wrong with your closing skills, and I’ll argue it’s more likely your prospecting skills that you need to work on. Your goal is to be spending more time with fewer prospects, and when you do, you’ll find yourself closing more deals at full price.
- Get their expectations
Again, prospecting. Your pitch/spiel should be tailored to your prospect’s expectations. So getting client’s expectations is the first step in the process. Qualify your prospect by getting the required deliverables and scope, their budget, timetable, and so on. Express a genuine interest in their project/needs and a sincere desire to help them.
- Anticipate every obstacle and overcome them
Come prepared for battle. Review your presentation or pitch and see where prospect might object or have an issue with (Pricing? Deliverables? Etc.). This prepares you for when client starts asking difficult questions or expressing concerns that may sway them to say “no.”
- Know what competition is doing
Your competition is one of those obstacles you need to anticipate. Knowing what your competition does better than you, what its weak points are, and how they price compared to you—these are all important factors to consider when preparing your sales pitch.
- Consider pricing
Part of your prospecting should be to decide if a prospect’s budget makes it a qualified lead, so at this stage in the process, you shouldn’t be dealing with a client with an unrealistic budget. So if budget is not the issue, the challenge is equating your pricing with the value you’re offering. Make sure your pricing justifies your proposal.
- 6. Identify the decision maker—and influencers—and pitch to them
It’s important that you meet with the decision maker, the person who has the power to say “yes.” In many cases, “influencers” will surround the decision maker—these are the people who will not make the decision, but can influence it. It’s important to know them, too. Sometimes the decision maker or influencer is too busy to sit down with you, but your whole pitch must still be targeted to them. How? Make sure your pitch is customized to what the decision maker and influencers want to hear. And in all sales calls, there’s only one thing every prospect, every decision maker wants to hear….
- Pitch the solution to their problem
Establish the value of what you’re selling: how can it benefit them? How can it solve their problem/s? If your product or service adds no value to their business, you shouldn’t be pitching to them in the first place.
- Make it about your customers, not about you
Bestselling author and sales thought leader Jill Konrath says, “Detach from the outcome. Your prospect’s needs are your driving force.” Your goal shouldn’t be to make a sale, but to help your customer. Listen to her sound advice below.
- Get your prospect to talk
Speaker and trainer Brian Tracy wants you to turn the tables around. “Let your prospects sell themselves,” he says. “No one likes to be ‘sold’ but most people like to buy. Get prospects to ‘sell’ themselves. Ask questions to take control of the conversation. Get your prospects to tell you what they want and why your service is the right one for them.” This also makes the client feel “listened to.”
- Have different strategies
In sales, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. If a particular strategy isn’t working, switch it out. Re-evaluate your sales strategies all the time: see what works and what doesn’t. But remember that whatever works for Client A may not necessarily work for Client B.
- Invest in a sales acceleration CRM platform
This may seem an obvious choice for some, but some people fail to realize the importance of having sales tools that can help drive your productivity, efficiency, and wins. Lucrativ, for one, has a highly intelligent and flexible CRM that can adjust to your needs and demands, so you can customize everything to suit your schedule, workflow, and processes. These tools help you focus on what you really need to do—and the more you’re able to do, the more chances you get of closing more deals.
- Sound confident and authentic
You have to know what you’re talking about to come across as confident. Know your product or service by heart, and temper the confidence with warmth and sincerity. Try to build a genuine rapport with your client. Don’t just pitch and sell! People will listen more to people they like.
- Create urgency and apply (gentle) pressure
Yes, no one wants to be rushed, but you should have the urgency to close a deal as soon as possible. You can do this without sounding aggressive. One trick is asking the client if your presentation has all the information they need to make a decision. You can also try and dangle a carrot—like creating a package price or a discount. Don’t be afraid to apply pressure to get the deal moving forward or to do what you need to do to make the sale. In the first place, that’s what you’re there to do.
