Congratulations on acquiring a roster full of warm leads, for whom you have crafted an excellent sales pitch and, in return, created promising business opportunities for yourself. But, don’t for a second think your work is done! In fact, the real challenge will present itself when you communicate your pitch and prices to close a lead.
Sure, your leads might instantly fall in love with your business offering, but you can call them committed only after both parties, the buyer as well as seller, agree on scope and payment terms and sign on the dotted line. At this juncture, you can truly call a sales deal “closed.” And, to get here, you need to be persuasive without being too “salesy.” Are there ways to do that? Yes, there are!
5 Sales Closing Techniques Expert Closers Use
During the closing process, it’s critical that your potential client feels heard, has all their needs addressed, and comes to agreeable pricing terms. But, sometimes, all of this is still not enough to convert them!
Leads often dilly dally, prioritize other tasks before closing a deal with you, keep a negotiation channel open with your competitors, or have other minor issues they are unwilling to compromise on. In such cases, or even otherwise, you must employ the following 5 tactics to get them to sign with you:
1. The Now or Never Technique
This technique works especially well for hard-to-close leads. We mean the ones that say “no” at least four times before they say yes! A study shows that these are 80% of your prospects. So, they will say yes, the fifth time, but only after you follow up with a sweetener, meaning discount, or create a sense of urgency.
To employ this sales closing tactic, expert closers use sentences like, “If you sign up today, I can further knock off 15% on the total billing”, “If you sign the purchase deed within 24 hours, I can make you jump the waitlist and deliver the product within a week”.
When you say things like this, you tend to break the prospect’s limbo and quickly nudge them into closing.
2. The Assumptive Close Tactic
Even though you’re a seller while reading this, you’ve most likely experienced this tactic as a buyer. Here, the closer’s demeanor while negotiating terms online or offline provides an impression that the sale is mostly a given. So, the seller quickly moves beyond explaining what the product does and justifying its pricing to informing about the quantities available along with delivery timelines.
For instance, if you’re a closer employing this technique, you’ll ask the prospect questions like, “How many pieces are you looking for, and by when would you want them?”, “Is it okay if I initially put you down for 10 pieces delivered by Friday?”.
Now the potential customer might want to get back to you within a day or two, but if they are somewhat interested, you should be able to close the deal relatively quickly through this method. No wonder this is considered one of the most popular sales closing techniques in both B2B and B2C landscapes.
3. The Puppy Dog Tactic
Sounds almost too cute to be a sales closing technique? Well, it is, and that too, a highly effective one. Here, you close by focusing on the potential buyer’s experience. You let your prospect try out your offering, be its proud owner, albeit temporarily.
The psychology at play here can be explained through, believe it or not, puppies! Suppose you take someone who likes dogs into a store full of puppies – 9 out 10 times, they will buy and bring one home.
Similarly, if you have a qualified lead, award them unfettered access to your product for a limited time, let them sample its true value, and watch this tactic work. Remember, due to the puppy dog close, your closing rates will far outnumber the money value you invest in providing prospects free usage of your product.
4. The Take-Away Tactic
Employ this technique if you’re unable to close the sale using the puppy dog tactic. Here, the closer/seller agrees to the final price quoted by the buyer but revokes a few add-on features of the offering in return. The philosophy behind this tactic is that humans don’t like when you take things away from them.
When merged with the puppy dog close, meaning once you’ve let your warm lead try out your complete offering, they may not want to forego the features they will have to when the price is reduced.
Even on its own, the takeaway technique is a solid strategy for improved sales closing rates. Through this tactic, you can capitalize on the prospect’s desire of not having to cut down on their wish list simply because of a discount.
5. The Pro and Con Close
Leads assume that as a seller, you will never utter a bad word about your offering. But, what if you do! Not only will this instantly earn you credibility and loyalty, but you will also get more business referrals through your prospects. Having said this, we don’t mean blatantly talking about the negatives of your offering. Never do that!
Instead, help your clients understand the pros of investing in your product as if they have nothing much to lose. Sure, show them both sides of the coin while closing by drawing up a pro and con list. Obviously, the con list must be carefully drafted in advance and should not outshine the pros at any cost.
Through this tactic, the prospect will feel like they’ve seen the entire picture and achieved a true perspective on whether they want to move forward with the purchase. They will also feel more in control of their decision and not as influenced by the seller. Most importantly, this tactic has the capacity to award you unflinching loyalty to your prospects.
The Final Word
Have you been experiencing low closing rates? Don’t throw in the towel just yet! Perhaps, you haven’t tried one or all of these 5 tactics. As a closer, arm yourself with them, set achievable sales targets, be persistent but never lose empathy for your prospect, remain customer-centric, and proactively pursue negotiations.
Once you do this, you’ll see a spike in your closing rates. Ignore it, and your competitors will thank you for all the prospects you sent marching their way!
About the Author
Rochelle Williams is a Senior Marketing Manager at Span Global Services. She comes with a strong marketing and advertising industry exposure of over 8+ years.
Knowing the tactics will increase sales and it really pays off to know your target market.