What are Sales Closing Techniques
Sales closing techniques are the skills sales professionals use to close more deals. These different types of sales closing can be anything from asking open-ended questions that get the prospect talking about their needs, or actively listening and following up on objections.
Sales Closing Techniques vs Sales Technique
The difference between sales closing techniques and sales technique is that the former relates to a specific skill, whereas the latter is broader in scope.
To make it clearer, sales closing techniques are the specific skills a salesperson needs to close more deals. While sales technique includes all the different strategies and tools a sales professional can use to close more deals.
Importance of Sales Closing Techniques
Effcetive sales closing techniques can be used by anyone in any industry, and they’re an essential part of every sale process. Employing them has been proven to increase volume and productivity for businesses from all industries with various lengths of sales cycles.
As such, sales professionals must employ these types of sales closes in a variety of situations so that they can work best for them at all times, and with different types of customers.
If the marketing automation (inbound and outbound) you have in place is successfully reeling in a constant flow of qualified leads, then good job! It means you are slowly on your way to building a healthy list of contacts that’s interested in your brand.
But just because your email marketing software is effective it should not mean that your sales team can take it easy.
You’ll also need some of the best sales closing techniques in your arsenal.
Remember, it’s not the email marketing software that closes deals and turns them into profit — it’s the sales representatives. They are your front liners.
Once the leads come in, they have to kick it in high gear and give their all to have any prospect sign those papers.
Closing deals need a human touch, or in most cases a push.
If by any chance the humans in question need a little help sale closes, we’ve listed four good ‘ol effective sales closing techniques that have always served us incredibly well throughout the years.
4 Sales Closing Techniques to Close More Deals
Below are four powerful types of sales closing techniques you should try out this week if you want to increase your sale closes.
1 Talk less, ask more
The worst thing any sales rep can do in an attempt for a sales closure is to be always talking about what they’re selling.
Leads are more concerned about their own issues, and sometimes they’re not even sure where exactly the issues truly lie. That’s why you should be asking probing questions about their concerns more than you should be hard-selling.
Think of how a doctor’s consultation usually goes. Ever notice how the doctor asks you series of questions about your symptoms first before prescribing a remedy?
Sales representatives can definitely learn a thing or two from their physician’s technique.
Instead of a sales pitch, probe into your prospects’ symptoms.
Identify their pain points so you can determine what exactly is causing them. Only after the discovery of the source that you should point how your solutions can address them. That’s how you can have a successful sales closure then.
Asking the questions is not only integral in zeroing in on your prospects’ pain points, but it also communicates to them that you genuinely care about their problems.
By digging deep into what your customer needs, there can be a higher chance of them hitting your product up. Share on XAsking such questions can also be a good way of understanding how you can properly slant your product to truly hit the mark. By digging deep into what your customer needs, there can be a higher chance of them hitting your product up. Of course, learning what to ask takes time so better start now.
2 Plus points for opinion
Not yours, but your prospect’s. Since you’re already asking your leads questions anyway, ask for their opinions as well.
Not only does adding the phrase “in your opinion” soften the blow of rejection, but it also shows your client that you are interested in what they think and that you respect how they feel.
In every closure sales talk, you must make your prospect “king” in this situation.
You wouldn’t want them feeling that the conversation is just one-sided.
After your probing query and introducing your product or service, ask these kinds of questions:
- “In your opinion, will this solution solve your problem?”
- “[Summarize the prospect’s issues]. Do you feel that I have a clear grasp of your concern?”
- “Based on what you’ve told me, these are how our company can help… Do you think these solutions address your issues?”
These queries convey that you value their input. More importantly, it probes more into their concern. The more fully you can grasp their issues earlier on, the easier it is to address them and the faster it is to wrap the deal up.
It also serves as a guide that you are listening to their concerns and that you actually helping them deal with their issues, an important note to take into consideration when trying to close a deal.
Prospects want to feel that you truly understand their concern and that you can sympathize with them. And it is with your product that you can help make their worries and concerns go away.
3 Be inoffensive
The Inoffensive Close also anchors on questions. But this time, you will be asking leading questions. You have to drive home the conversation, hopefully towards a closed deal.
After probing into your prospect’s problems and eventually offering a solution, softly nudge them into signing along the dotted lines of the contract with questions like these:
- At this point, do you feel that I have a good understanding of the issues you and your company are facing?
- If I’ve understood it clearly, these are the major areas that we can help you with… Is there anything I missed, or that you would want to include in that list?
- Based on our conversation, do you think I have the ability to help you solve your problems?
- Assuming the demo/presentation meets your expectation. Would you want to partner with us in solving your problems?
After exerting effort into prying what your prospect really needs, these questions prompt them to answer you directly and close the deal without being aggressive and coming off as pushy.
It is also important to balance being aggressive and compassionate with your prospect in order for successful closure sales. A good day is when you get them to sign and actually close the deal!
4 Practice the 70/30
The 70/30 is an oldie but a goodie. Yes, friendliness and charisma are essential in being a sales rep.
These are some of the strong characteristics people actually look for in their sales team. But don’t mistake them with chattiness.
As a general rule of thumb among salespeople, let the prospect do 70% of the talking. Minimize your chatter to 30%.
This is considered as a healthy balance between you trying to make your pitch and hearing out the actual concerns of the other party.
While you should make sure that you are the one steering the conversation (hopefully towards a close), let the prospect dominate the discussion. Take into consideration that it is their concern you are trying to address in the first place.
While you should make sure that you are the one steering the conversation (hopefully towards a close), let the prospect dominate the discussion. Share on XAdditionally, one of the closing sales techniques is always to be mindful that you let the prospect finish speaking before butting in. You don’t want to turn them off by constantly butting in before they are finished explaining their side of the story.
Never underestimate the power of human connection, it is your most powerful tool.
8 Sales Closing Mistakes to Avoid
Now it’s time to talk about things you should avoid in all types of sales closes.
1 Closing only once
One of the most common mistakes sales professionals make is to close only once. The more opportunities you give your customer, the better chance they’ll have to buy from you.
It’s important to keep in mind that you shouldn’t give up after just one try. Maybe they said no because of timing, or maybe it was the wrong product for them, but a customer who needs what you have will come back around eventually.
2 Don’t be aggressive
Here’s one of the best closing sales techniques: always respect your customers and never be too pushy. Yes, the sale is a big deal for you but it’s also important to remember that what you’re selling has value and your customer might not be ready. But then, if you’re lucky and skilled, you can wait for an opportunity to get a sharp angle close.
If you are unfamiliar with sharp angle close, it’s the
It can often come off as rude if you keep pushing too hard while they’re trying to make up their mind so don’t go out of your way to get them to buy.
3 Closing too quickly
Another mistake is closing too fast or without first giving your customer a chance to speak their mind. Locking in that sale as soon as possible will only lead to regret when they do actually want to buy from you but can’t because it’s been closed off for them.
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4 Making a decision too quickly
In your closing sales statements, it’s important to not make the sale the only focus of your dialogue with them as you don’t want to miss out on an opportunity for future sales by making their experience feel rushed and lacking in attention. Always remember this art of the close.
Comparing customers against one another is also something that should be avoided at all costs. Just because you had a profitable sales talk with one customer doesn’t mean that the next will be as well.
5 Closing too late
This is often a mistake made by those who lack closing skills in sales. They’ll wait until their customers have gone to multiple stores and make all of their decisions before they finally come back for what could have been their first and only purchase from your company.
For instance, if you’re a sales associate in the shoe department of Macy’s, and your customer mentions that they’ve been to at least two other stores before coming into yours, it would be wise to close as soon as possible.
6 Closing too early
It can sometimes happen that those who are inexperienced in sales view closing too early as an accomplishment when really it should be viewed as a failure. They’ll think that they got the sale when in reality it was their customer who decided to buy before you even had a chance to present your product or service.
For instance, if you’re selling an item online and have just sent off an email with all the necessary information for a purchase, but then receive a reply that says “yes, I want to buy this” or something similar, it should be viewed as closing too early.
These sales closing lines can also happen over the phone — for example when you ask if someone would like to start with our sales call and then they say yes without hearing anything about what we have to offer.
Take note of one of the most important closing sales tips. Don’t assume that the customer is so interested in your product or service that they want to buy it on the spot. Even if you’re selling something over email, ask them a few qualifying questions and then wait for their reply before sending off an order confirmation with payment information.
7 Using statements instead of questions
Your closes should always be in the form of questions, not statements.
If you say “You should buy this product,” it’s sending the message that there is no other choice and they need to make a quick decision, which may cause them to regret their purchase later on.
Questions allow for more time to think about the offer as well as an opportunity to decline if they’re hesitant or answer, and can also give you a better idea of what they’re looking for.
“You should buy this product because it will help you to [insert reason].”
In that type of sales closing lines, the person is giving their reasoning as to why they think the customer should buy it instead of just telling them without hearing anything about what we have to offer.
8 Not creating a sense of urgency
A sense of urgency is a big part of closing techniques in sales, and it’s important to create that sense without forcing them. It’s famous art of the close.
Questions in your closing sales statements also allow you to really learn about the customer and what they’re interested in so that you can make an offer or recommend another product down the line when they may need something else.
You want people feeling like this is their decision (even if it is really yours) so they feel like there was a genuine conversation and are more likely to say yes.
Conclusion
Nowadays, best sales closing techniques are a mix of available resources you have onhand — both offline and online ones. While email marketing software has been proven to generate leads and contribute to converting them to paying customers, it’s not the only tool at your disposal. You have, first and foremost, your sales team. But of course, they must be equipped with closing skills in sales. After all, it is your salespeople who personally secure that sought-after signature.
Thus, on top of employing email marketing software, maximize your sales team. Start by empowering them and sending this article their way!