So you're in sales--or in business in general--and you want to know how to increase your close ratio. Whatever it is that you're in business to sell, you need to know these basics before you can expect to consider yourself a "closer." Keep these sales closing techniques at the forefront of your mind and master them, and you're ahead in the game to bury your competition in the dust you'll kick up.
Closing Sales Techniques
Set Urgency
Ask for the Sale...then Ask for the Sale...then Repeat...
Equipping Your Customer
Objections are Opportunity
Assumptive Close
Let's take a look at each point:
1. Set Urgency
First off, by "set urgency," it's not to be confused with a panic-inducing "You're on Fire!" sort of urgency. I personally deplore the used-car-salesman approach to sales and avoid the "closer" whenever we buy a car, if that's the approach. Rather, this is a compiled, subtle and natural sense of urgency. An example would be an expiration on a promotional deal. If you have a discounted introductory offer, then all the better--but put a time-stamp on it. Create a sense in which this is a really beneficial product or service, but you just may lose out on this price if you don't act now.
Key tip: I don't recommend you lie to create urgency, either. If you're in sales and have to resort to telling dishonest B.S., then you can't sell and you give the rest of us a bad name. Try again or get out of the pool.
2. Ask for the Sale...then Ask for the Sale...then Repeat...
Be prepared, after you give a short sales pitch - without being "pitchy" about it! - to ask for the sale. Then you'll probably get an objection, which you need to address, and then ask for the sale. Each time you get and answer an objection, and only if you successfully answer the objection, then ask for the sale. Of all the sales closing techniques, this is probably the most unused but most powerful piece of advice. Be ready to ask up to 5 times without being obnoxious about it.
3. Equipping Your Customer
The whole art of closing sales techniques can be summed up in this phrase, "I'm here to help you." Take that approach to your sales pitch. You have what your customer wants and needs - or you don't. If you can identify what your customer wants and you can genuinely address their concerns, then you should posture the entire conversation around, "I am here to help you with your need. Here's the solution."
The point is, to be on their side, they want what you're selling, only they may not know it yet. Equip them to make the best buying decision - know why they need what you have, and not what your competition is offering.
4. Objections are Opportunity
What list of sales closing techniques would be complete without objections? Let me summarize the problem with objections: most sales people don't recognize them for the golden opportunity they really are. An objection is usually a request for more information that you didn't give them already. An objection is like saying, "I don't know why I should buy this from your company, please help me answer that and I'll buy."
Study your objections like you're studying for a final - make a list of patterns and a list of answers to them. Know why a customer would object in this or that way. It may mean that you're saying something or not saying something consistently, giving rise to the same objection again and again. Objections are a great way to grow and perfect your craft.
5. Assumptive Close
We all have to study closing sales techniques that work, and the best I've come across - though this may not be true in your field - is the assumptive close. You assume the customer wants to buy, and after you've gone through your pitch and have done the work presenting your company's product/service, then you simply assume they're sold.
But wait, doesn't that conflict with "ask for the sale..."? No, it doesn't. You just don't phrase the close with, "Do you want to buy?" or similar questions. Rather, you close with, "What color would you like that in?" Or, "When can we set this up for delivery?" Or, my favorite, "How would you like to pay for that? We accept..."
At this point, the customer will do one of three things: shut you down and make it clear you are not closing them, object to the sale and ask for more information, or close the deal. In other words, at this point you have a 2/3 chance of closing, so have at it!
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