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Do you ever start out a sales presentation strong, only to lose confidence toward the end of the meeting? Closing the sale is one of the most intimidating parts of the sales process—but it’s also the most important.
If you can’t regularly close sales, you’ll never make a great living as a salesperson. But if you can crack the code, then you’ll make insanely profitable sales at a consistent pace. The following 4 strategies are simple ways to close more deals, so you can capture more profit—and crush your sales goals:
If you find yourself reaching the close and everything feels off track, then you probably haven’t spent enough time discovering your prospect’s deepest frustrations. From the very beginning of your interaction with prospects, you should be digging deep to find out what their biggest problems are. Armed with this information, you can then craft a solution that they’re actually willing to invest in.
Encourage your prospects to articulate what their top challenges are actually costing them in dollars, so you’ll know the exact value of your solution. Then ask, “Is solving this challenge a priority right now?” If you’ve done your job well, the answer will be “yes”—and then you can move confidently to close the sale.
To learn more about this strategy, watch the video below:
If you sense a selling situation going downhill, your instinct might be to stick to your original plan and push through—but that’s actually the worst thing you can do. Instead, stop the conversation and simply tell the prospect, “I get the sense that this just isn’t working.”
This authentic moment of straightforward honesty might be just what the situation requires. You can backtrack the conversation with your prospect, figure out where things went wrong, and then head toward the close with new information—and more trust from the prospect—than you had before.
One of the best ways to increase your closing ratios is to ask for feedback from prospects who you couldn’t close. The next time you falter during a sales meeting and fail to close the deal, ask for feedback. A simple question such as, “Do you mind my asking where this meeting went off track?” will give you tremendous insight into how you can improve your closing approach and close far more sales.
You don’t want to sit back and let the prospect completely drive the sales meeting, but a well-timed moment of “handing over the reigns” can actually help you close more sales. After the discovery process and before you move into the close, put the prospect at ease by giving them some control. Try asking, “What would you like to do next?” This gives them control over their decision to buy from you—and allows you to hear exactly what they’re thinking.
Do you find it difficult to close sales? Which of these tips did you find most useful for keeping future sales meetings moving in the right direction? Share your thoughts in the comments below. While you’re at it, check out this Special Report on 3 Closing Questions You MUST Ask
Marc Wayshak is the founder of Sales Strategy Academy, best-selling author of Game Plan Selling, and a regular contributor for Fast Company, Entrepreneur Magazine and the Huffington Post Business section. He holds an MBA from the University of Oxford and a BA from Harvard University.
