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.