6 Key Elements of Closing The Sale – Part 2
In our previous message, we discussed how the closing of a deal is the culmination of events over time, not the answer to a magical well-placed “Are you ready to buy?” type question. Six elements must be present before a sale occurs. The order does not necessarily matter. It does not matter whether you proactively do something to close, or if your customer unwittingly does them for you. They just have to happen for a sale to be made.
The six key elements of closing a sale are:
- Prospect accepts your value proposition.
- Your solution has to address relevant specific needs of the customer.
- The economic buyer must be involved and be in favor of your solution.
- A consensus must exist among the key players within the customer’s organization.
- Your solution must be understood.
- Customer has to visualize your solution in use and like what they see.
We covered the first three in our previous message so let’s look at the final three this time.
A consensus must exist among the key players within the customer’s organization. Although we say that the economic buyer has the power to say yes without permission, this person usually seeks the input of others. Therefore, you must make sure to find out who these influencers are and make sure that they are on board early in the process. If not, you stand a great chance of having your sale delayed at best and lost at worst. So, what can you do? Ask questions about their buying process. Find out who else is involved. Understand what their roles are. Be able to answer the question for them: “What’s in it for me?” Demonstrate this at every level throughout the organization. Check for understanding and commitment.
This leads nicely to our next point which is that everyone must understand your solution and validate its importance. You have to get moved to the top of the priority list. The more people that understand how your solution benefits them personally, the better chance you have of becoming the top priority. Be sure to explain how your solution impacts prospects in their terms. Your solution may have an incredible return on investment over a three year period. However, if the customer is worried about cash flow over the next three months, your presentation will fall on deaf ears if you get a chance to deliver it at all.
The final component to closing a sale is that prospects must be able to visualize themselves benefiting from your solution. Car dealers know this all too well. That’s why they try to get you to test drive the car. That way the prospect starts to paint that picture. In sales, you are an artist! It is your job to paint a vivid picture for your prospects so they see themselves using and benefiting from your solution. Be sure to work this into the dialog. Without it, your message will lack enthusiasm and passion.
Send your people to any of our upcoming Persuasive Sales courses for more help with this process.
6 Key Elements of Closing the Sale
At Sales Concepts, we deal with literally hundreds of sales managers throughout the year. The topic foremost on their mind is that of closing the sale. Seldom does a day pass without us hearing sales managers say that they want their people to do a better job of closing. I even had one sales manager say to me when I was speaking with him, “Okay, this sounds good; let me hear your best closing technique.” The problem is that a technique doesn’t work when your customer knows it’s a technique! We believe that closing is a state of mind present throughout the entire sales process. It is not some event or gimmick that happens at the end. Closing is a process in and of itself. Six things must happen before a sale occurs. The order does not necessarily matter. It does not matter whether you proactively do something to close or if your customer unwittingly does them for you. They just have to happen for a sale to be made.
The six key elements of closing a sale are:
- Prospect accepts your value proposition.
- Your solution has to address relevant specific needs of the customer.
- The economic buyer must be involved and be in favor of your solution.
- A consensus must exist among the key players within the customer’s organization.
- Your solution must be understood.
- Customer has to visualize your solution in use and like what they see.
We’ll take a look at the first three this week and the next three in our next message.
When customers buy from you, they are essentially trading their capital for your products, services or solutions. They are telling you that what you are selling is worth more to them than the price you are asking. Value, in other words is what makes it worth the price. In order for customers to buy from you, they must feel you provide them with enough value to “make the trade”. No value? No sale.
Your solution has to address specific needs of the customer. You may have a long list of reasons why customers should buy from you, however if you don’t address their key concerns or needs, it does not matter. To make the sale, you have to understand exactly why the customer wants what you have from the customer’s point of view.
We define the economic buyer as the person who can say “Yes” without anyone else’s permission. We understand with large, capital intensive sales in corporate environments, a committee may be involved in approving buying decisions. However, every committee has a top dog. Your job is to make sure this person is on board. Without him or her in favor of your proposal, your order just gets shuffled to the bottom of the priority list.
I trust you have found these tips to be helpful. We cover them in great detail in our Persuasive Sales course. Several of these classes are scheduled this fall all around the United States. Please let me know if you would like to send any of your people or attend yourself. Till next time, when we review the final three elements of the closing process.
