Imagine the scene, the market analysis for your product forecasts tremendous success, you’ve got extremely promising sales leads and your meetings are all lined up. The deals are waiting for the taking.
You walk into your meetings and set up your video calls certain of success. You’re almost there but at the last and final hurdle, the closing stage of the deal, something goes wrong. You fail to make it and all your hard work was for nothing.
Don’t worry though help is on hand to improve your closing and for you to get those sales and commissions faster than ever. There are five techniques for closing sales that are guaranteed to succeed and we’re going to go through all of them.
Now or never close
Now or never closes are a great way to inject energy into your sales process. They create urgency by offering a special one time discount for a client’s immediate agreement to the deal. There are many ways you can achieve this so we included a few examples for you below;
- “We can offer a 30% discount to customers who buy this today only.”
- “If you sign up today you’ll receive priority during implementation and for later updates.”
- “We only have one version of the product left and another client has expressed interest.”
The now or never technique will close deals faster as they make the customer believe that they will miss out on a great deal if they don’t agree. This technique can also be used for clients that have dragged their heels through the closing process without committing to a yes or a no.
This technique works best when you have leeway to decide on making deals specific to each sales negotiation. As it’s a fairly aggressive closing technique it may not be suited for some negotiations so apply common sense to each scenario you’re considering using it for.
Summary close
Summary closes work because they are a simple and effective way to hook your customer. By providing a concise message on the benefits of your product you make the decision process faster and easier. This method can be applied to almost any product regardless of its size or complexity.
The beauty of the summary close is that it doesn’t require you to offer a discount or promotion. All you need to do is convey the benefits of your product and it’s advantages over your competitors (though don’t be too negative as it can be off-putting to clients).
Say you’re closing a deal on a brand new sports car a summary close would look something like this:
“Our Type 55 car offers the latest cruise control technology with a top speed of 155mph that you can reach in naught to 10 seconds. Our car is safer, smoother and simpler to use than any competitor and what is more, it includes a lifetime warranty and guarantee of first class service.”
All you need to do to ace summaries is know your product inside and out. A well crafted summary is extremely effective as your client is more inclined to remember 30 seconds of high quality information than 30 minutes of a prolonged pitch.
Sharp angle close
Sharp angle closes are more unusual as they involve surrendering initiative to the client. Usually, one should alway seize the initiative but there are benefits to being what boxers would call a counter puncher, ie, someone who changes their strategy based on their sparring partner’s moves.
In essence the sharp angle close is where the customer identifies an element of your product they don’t like and your countermeasure is to offer a response to close the deal with a win. It’s frequently encountered in the IT and tech industry where products depend on installations and updates. Here are some examples;
- Client: “I love this sports car but I hate the colour, it puts me off buying the car…”
Salesperson: “If I repaint the car for free will you agree to purchase it today?” - Client: “The software seems great but installation is too expensive and complicated.”
Salesperson: “If I threw in free installation by one of our experts could we close today?”
The key to using this technique is that you need to think flexibly and understand the client’s emotional needs. Also, plan ahead to consider what you’re willing to give up as part of a sharp angle close and make sure it’s something you can afford.
Ended question close
Where some closing techniques inject urgency into the sales process the ended questions close introduces finality. The salesperson focuses their clients attention by asking a question that brings the entire process either to a close or a break. It’s a guaranteed way to secure a faster deal but it must be used correctly.
Ask the wrong question at the wrong time and you’ll end up killing the deal. An ended question should only be used at exactly the right moment, and only after the client has all the relevant information required to give the answer you want. This can make it difficult but it is a very effective technique.
Take a look at these examples;
- “Do you like what I’ve demonstrated to you today?”
- “Is this feature a problem for you?”
- “Can we move forward with this transaction?”
These examples show how you can take the initiative and direct the movement of the sales process. The first two in particular also allow you to change your plan based on their needs. Crucially, all three inject finality by marking clear stages to your process.
Don’t overuse ended questions, but using them in the right way allows you to maintain full control over your closing system.
Assumptive close
If you want to succeed in sales you need a positive mental attitude. If you shlep into your meetings, mumble your way through and don’t exhibit enthusiasm for your product, no one is going to buy it. If you have the right positive attitude however, then the assumptive close technique will work wonders.
The assumptive close is a long term strategy but it’s highly effective. During the sales process you subtly let your customer know that you assume they will buy the product. Now this could go either way especially if you come across as arrogant, but done the right way this psychological trick can work wonders if you’re confident and eloquent.
You need the right customer sale and service strategy to make an assumptive close work. They’re great in informal settings, especially with pre-existing customers with whom you already have a relationship. We wouldn’t for example recommend assumptive deals for formal meetings with traditional outlook companies.
How Revenue Grid helps to get more from closing sales techniques
You’re probably curious how to make these five closing strategies even more effective. The easiest way is to introduce a specific sales acceleration tool like Revenue Grid. In this case you’ll be equipped with a software automating your sales process in several directions and bringing you closer to winning deals.
How can Revenue Grid help your team to close a sale faster?
- Provide a clear picture of what your reps are up to, what tactics they are using, how they communicate with customers – with Revenue Grid you can get complete pipeline visibility and know exactly where your reps are standing on each of the deals. As a result you can catch deals once they go south and access key sales metrics for each deal, moving them in the right direction.
- Automate sales plays and guide reps through the funnel without your help by making recommendations based on context and pre-defined rules that align with the sales process using AI insights
- Supplement in-person coaching with personalized, automated sequences that surface actionable insights and help reps apply the right action at the right time, based on your sales process.
Revenue Grid software surfaces the best action for every deal, alerts you and your reps when deals are at risk, and helps you understand what went wrong. As a result, you’ll maximize the effectiveness of any of the closing sales techniques we’ve described.
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In conclusion.
Use your best judgement, ask yourself if you are able to appeal to your customer’s emotional impulses, consider if you might actually put them off a sale if you come across as too arrogant. Also bear in mind the culture you’re operating in as this technique is more likely to work in say the United States rather than Japan. Remember, sales are based on emotion not logic, so use your intuition.
Whichever closing technique you use, remember to maintain a positive and professional attitude, and you will surely succeed. Keep reading our blog for the latest articles on improving your sales techniques and don’t forget to like and subscribe to our social media pages.