Close that sale

Just imagine, if every prospect you met said ‘where do I sign’ or ‘when can you deliver it’ to a salesperson wouldnt that be the ultimate dream. Sales trainers all over the world would probably be redundant as there would be no need for your sales team to attend sales training courses. Companies could reduce commission rates or even pay no commission at all, if only sales were that simple.

Unfortunately all sales do not close with a ‘yes I‘ll take it’, in fact most sales don’t close at all. You see, we still need to learn as sales people or sales managers the importance of developing good closing skills and techniques, because it is still a fact of life that some salespeople are afraid to ask for the order.

Through sales training courses it is obvious that closing sales still remains for most people the most difficult part of the sales process.
Salespeople all over the country have great skill in building rapport, establishing needs and even selling benefits but when it comes to that crunch time of asking for the order they freeze. Yet the prospect knows we are there to sell the product, they know we have not driven 50 miles to see them to just let them see the product, they are expecting us to ask for the order.

The truth is if you can’t close sales you have no future in selling, There are numerous books audio tapes and sales training courses that can be of great assistance in showing all the different techniques you can use apart from asking for the order outright. For example you can use the alternative close ‘we deliver on Mondays and Wednesdays which day is best for you? What ever the prospect answers the sale is closed and in reality you haven’t even asked them to buy.

Another excellent closing technique (depending on the product you are selling) is the ski slope where you draw a line on a piece of paper and say most of our clients spend between £100 and £500 writing the £100 at one end of the line and the £500 at the other end, then say where on the line would you feel comfortable. Guess what most people go for the half way mark at £250. Once again you have not asked for the order but as soon as the prospect has answered the question you have closed the sale.

But why do salespeople have problems closing sales, well in sales training courses i have seen that it can be for a number of reasons many salespeople fear rejection, many do not know how to handle objections and see buyer hesitation as a barrier, or maybe they have never been taught to use trial closes during the sale so that the final close is an inevitable next step. Whatever the reason, salespeople need to keep their skills updated as if you can not close sales you will be waiting a long time before the prospect asks to buy.

If you as a salesperson, or each of your salespeople if you are a sales manager attended were able to increase the close ratio by 20%, would that not be seen as an investment with a great pay off.