You might be surprised, but you can really mess up your sales pitch…Hard. It can happen more easily than you think, even when you follow instructions to a T. There are dozens of known sales closing techniques, which were created to help salespeople turn a call with a prospect into a done deal.
Different people can be convinced in different ways, and while there are sales closing techniques that normally work better than others, at the heart of it a great salesperson should know how to read the person on the other side of the line and make a pitch perfect deal.
Thing is, no matter how great the sales closing technique is, you can mess up terribly by taking it just one step too far.
Before you is a short list of three of the most popular sales closing techniques, and what you need to do in order to avoid a pitch disaster. Take note.
Sales Closing Technique #1: “Straight and to the Point”
This one is also known as “Conditional Close,” it focuses on you making some tweaks and changes to push towards a closing.
If the prospect comes up with a demand, ask if this is what will get them to sign. In other words, you “cut to the chase,” by being direct and offering to take a step towards the prospect in return of them making a purchase.
For instance, if a prospect asks about an upgrade, free of charge, you respond with: “assume I can make it work, do we have a deal?” That way, you make sure you don’t waste anybody’s time, and get a “green light” to allow you to move to the next stage.
You basically make a trade, in a way that makes the prospect feel like they’re being listened to and that you’re willing to go the extra mile for them to join you. It is based on the Exchange Principle, stating that “when I do something for you, you do something for me.”
In order to double check the prospect’s willingness to move forward, you can throw in a question like: “which day next week will be convenient for you to sign?”
How you can mess it up – One regretful outcome is you getting defensive without noticing, by comments made by the prospect, asking for improvement, which can lead to you being aggressive towards the prospect: “so you’re saying great user experience and cutting-edge technology is not good enough for you?!”
Remember- every prospect will try to get more out of the deal. You need to know how to handle it properly, be willing to give, but also know when to stop and not let them ask for too much.
Sales Closing Technique #2: “Urgency is King”
AKA “The Pressure Close.” When talking to a prospect, you emphasize reasons why the deal is time-sensitive and why it’s important to close it sooner rather than later. This is a perfect way to handle a prospect that’s trying to say they “need some time to think.”
You approach this in two main ways. The first one is by focusing on your solution, indicating for instance that prices are about to go up, or that units of your product are running low.
Another way of adding a sense of urgency to the deal is to focus on their product, hinting that the sooner the prospect combines forces with you, the better and faster you can help the company before the end of the quarter.
A great way for this technique to work is to add some customer testimonials stating how quickly and efficiently you’ve helped them.
How you can mess it up: When you put too much pressure on the prospect, making the urgency seem too forced.
If you don’t get any signs of genuine interest from your prospect and/or they still have unanswered questions, don’t push too hard. You can’t really dismiss every single concern your prospects may have, and you must be open to the possibility that sometimes it really is a bad time to make a purchase.
Sales Closing Technique #3: “Done Deal”
This one is better known as the “Assumptive Close,” and it works by the Assumption Principal. In short, it means that if you act as if something is certain, it’ll make it difficult to the person on the other side to deny.
And so, when you follow this sales closing technique, you basically act as if the prospect has already agreed to take another step towards purchasing your product/service.
Using this technique well will lead your prospect’s thoughts to steer away from any doubts (like if they still have any unanswered needs,) and focus on the benefits they’ll gain from using your solution.
In order for this solution to really work, you need to make sure the prospect has shown genuine interest in your product. Spot the signs of contentment and agreement.
How you can mess it up: When the prospect did not give you a single verbal sign of interest, and you still go through with this method. This will give the prospect a sense of discomfort, making you seem aggressive and over-confident.