Typically in a sales meeting you need to go through a process of closing to make the sale. How you close a sale depends on a variety of factors, including what you’re selling, the kind of social style of the prospect, and most importantly, what feels appropriate to you during the sales interaction.
There are four main steps to closing a sale. Here they are:
1) Summarise the discussion so far. This should include reviewing the prospect’s issues and desired outcomes. There is no way you can really understand them unless you have asked questions that uncover their problems and needs. You then need to describe how you will help them, giving them examples of how you have helped others. Here’s one way to do it: “I would now like to review your issues and desired outcomes, along with suggesting ways I can help you. I’ll also share examples of other clients we have helped that had similar problems”.
2) Handle objections. The fact of the matter is that objections are good. The absence of any objection from a prospect may be a sign of indifference. Objections indicate interest. Handle them well and you’ll be closer to making the sale. Hear the prospect’s objection out completely and acknowledge your understanding of the objection. Then answer each objection, getting agreement on whether the prospect is comfortable with the answer, and continue with the close from there.
3) Confirming commitment. This is about asking the prospect directly whether the product or service you are selling is right for them. You can ask “Do you have any questions or concerns that we haven’t covered so far?” or “Based on what you have heard so far, does this program sound like something that you can see yourself doing and succeeding with?”. That way you have a good chance of getting a direct indication of what the prospect is thinking. Take it one step further by asking “Why is that?”.
4) The final close. Here you want to get a buying decision from the prospect. My favourite type of close that works well with the first three steps above is the assumptive close, where you act as if the prospect has made the decision already. I usually say something like, “If we are in agreement on the issues and objectives of the project, then I’ll get a proposal sent to you by tomorrow and we’ll start on the project on Monday” or something similar. The key here is to act confidently and to make it difficult for the prospect to say no.
Keep these four steps in mind the next time you are in a sales situation and they’ll help guide your thinking.
*Ahmed al-Akber is the managing director of ACK Solutions, a firm that helps companies to improve their marketing and sales results by offering more effective ways attracting customers and significantly better products and services. Ahmed has worked internationally in marketing, sales, and strategic planning at companies such as the Coca-Cola Company, Philip Morris International and Dell. Questions or comments can be sent to Ahmed on [email protected]
