Signing new clients: It's a goal every salesperson wishes and plans for.
Yet, as some of us reflect on our closing ratios, a question often emerges:
“How do I close more deals?”
“What am I missing?”
A VERY common diagnosis: Salespeople may be assuming the close.
How do you tell? Watch the salesperson execute a presentation.
They may be (unintentionally) saying “If you don’t sign up with us, you're kinda dumb…”
Obviously this is going to make the prospect feel uncomfortable….
But what does this look like?
Well… have you ever been pitched by a salesperson and the strategy was to throw an ocean of data facts in your face?
And when you didn’t give them a “yes” they hit you with something like…
“Well…It would honestly be a really good idea too (blank).
There are either two answers to this kind of response as a prospect.
1. Yes! Sign me up!
Or
2. No, because I’m a dummy. (Nobody likes to feel like a dummy)
Prospects may mumble “I gotta think about it and get back to you”
**ATTENTION**
This is not a discredit to our salespeople.
We can often forget that other people also have things going on in their world. They aren’t frozen in carbonite when we stop talking to them. Star Wars fans, you know what I am talking about ;)
Salespeople can sometimes get so tied up in the passion of our product or service we can often experience blindspots in seeing that our product (probably) isn't the most important thing in our prospects world.
Ultimately; to reduce the projected feeling “if you don’t sign up with us, you’re dumb,”
Here's 4 steps every salesperson should know when it comes to making top notch sales presentations that don’t make our buyers feel uncomfortable.
Step 1:
Get permission to summarize to create rapport and engage the prospect.
After qualification, at the beginning of the conversation make sure the salesperson sets the stage for a productive call.
“Prospect, it's been a couple of weeks/months since we last talked, is it ok with you if I summarize what we’ve been talking about before we jump into things?”
Step 2:
Get prospects to review why they wanted to talk with a company by knowing the and going over this information:
- How did we get to this presentation?
- What were all the compelling and emotional reasons that attracted the prospect to work with a company like yours?
- What is the pay off to the prospects company and the prospect for solving the problems you are discussing?
- How is the prospect going to select somebody?
*Review all of this with them (we call it a mini review)
Step 3:
Confirm all of that is still accurate with them.
If not… say “what did I miss”
OR
“So, what’s changed?”
Step 4:
Confirm what’s missing or what boxes are unchecked?
“What ELSE do you need to see, hear, or experience to make this a good use of your time?”
Following these brief steps consistently will set you on the right path to 60-80% close rates, stronger rapport, quicker closing speeds, and will be the beginning of more long term, mutually beneficial relationships for both you and your new clients.
Listen to the Full PODCAST here.
