It’s really quite simple… people need to purchase both goods and services to help run their own businesses. So why do our customers and/or potential customers hesitate to buy from us? On the flip side for our own businesses to survive we need to sell our advertising product, but more often than not, we (as sellers) hesitate to close. Again, why? I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s because closing is where the pressure is. It’s where we all risk something and in some cases it just makes us feel uncomfortable because the customer risks making a mistake, and we risk the rejection. But nothing happens until we close the sale!
All sales begin with identifying the customer’s need. Customers need to buy products or services that help their business run. And guess what!? You have what they are looking for! So, how do you get them to want your solution? You have to share with them the overall benefits of your product… what will our solution do for them. Will it drive more people in the door, will it lead to more items per customer or will it get people dropping by that place of business more often? The relationship between the benefit and the need is critical for any sale to happen.
Here are a few steps that we as sellers need to do in order to get a “yes” at the end of your sales proposal.
Do Your Research
Make sure you properly identify who the decision-maker is for the company. When you start the initial conversation with that place of business, who is the person who’s most likely to be the decision-maker regarding your advertising solution in your prospect’s organization? Find the right person and your chances of making meaningful progress towards closing the sale increase significantly!
Accurately Qualify Your Prospects
Believe it or not, most of the sales work in closing the sale is done before you even speak with the prospect. Make sure that you qualify your prospects through internal research beforehand. You’ll want to ask yourself questions like…
- How big is their company? How does it compare to its competitors?
- Do we see major gaps within their current marketing plans?
- How have we helped similar companies in the past?
- Have they or do they currently advertise through our competitors?
These types of questions will help you get into the mindset of your potential customer. Again, get to know their industry along with some of the general pain points that they might be experiencing on a daily basis.
Remember to Pitch the Solution
When reaching out to prospects you should know your product and services inside and out. This way you can easily overcome objections and provide solutions that can make a positive impact on the prospect. Your customers are looking for real tangible results and want to know how you will provide that to them.
Practice How To Overcome Objections
Listen, like it or not, you’re going to be told “no” during the sales process. We all know it happens, so what do we do to make sure we’re prepared when the “no” comes. One thing you can do is practice how to overcome basic objections so that when it happens, you have your response ready and it will sound genuine, confident, and not rehearsed. In fact, here are a few common objections that you may face:
- I don’t have the money… or this isn’t in my budget.
- We don’t see the need to advertise at the moment.
- Send me more info and I’ll get back to you.
Make your own list of objections that you’re faced with on a daily/weekly basis and practice how you can overcome these. The more you practice the better prepared you will be when questions like these arise in the future.
Ask for the Order
Knowing when to close is critical to your success. Too often sellers wait too long to close the sale. This is due to avoiding rejection but remember this… “ask and you get, don’t and your won’t.” If you’ve done your job qualifying your prospect, delivering a quality pitch, and you feel they are interested then ask for the sale. There’s only one way to get the order… and that’s to ask for it.
Closing is a skill… it takes continuous practice. But if you go into the meetings prepared and excited to share your solutions that will benefit them, obtaining those “yes” answers will become easier to get.
If you need more help with closing the sale or the sales process we got you covered. Here are a few suggestions to get you started “Closing the Sale“, “The Sales Cycle“, and “Ask for the Order.” Happy Selling!
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