Being a better closer is one of the most common areas that sales people want to improve. The good news is that there are some very small and easy to incorporate changes that can immediately make you a better closer and those are outlined in this video.
1. How to Improve Your Close Rate
Michael Halper
Sales Prospecting 101
2. Some Key Points
• Most common area for desired improvement
• Should be one of the easiest steps of the process
• Born a closer?
• Tremendous control
• Direct closing tactics versus indirect closing tactics
3. What are you trying to close?
Stage GoalsInitial Contact
(First time to speak)
Cold Call
Inbound Call
Email
Event
2 to 5 minutes
80% on prospect
20% on you
First Conversation
(Appointment/Meeting)
Phone Call
Face-to-Face
Discovery
20 to 30 minutes
50% on prospect
50% on you
First Meeting
(Presentation)
Discovery
Presentation
Demonstration
1 to 2 hours
20% on prospect
80% on you
Pre-qualify
Gather high-level information
Build interest in having conversation
Schedule a First Conversation
Hard Qualify
Gather detailed Information
Build interest in meeting
Schedule a First Meeting
Sell Product
Map out Next Steps
Close (Sale or agreement to move
forward)
4. Direct Closing Tactics
• Trial Close
• Assumptive Close
• Alternative Close
• Letting the Prospect Lead
• Turning Questions into Statements
• Evaluation Plan
• Compelling Event
• Disqualifying
5. Trial Closing
• Asking the prospect for their thoughts and opinions.
• Examples:
– What do you think of what we have discussed so far?
– How would that feature help your operation?
– Is this something you could see your employees
using?
– Do you want to continue forward with these
discussions?
– What direction do you want to go in from here?
• Should be performed in every prospect discussion
6. Assumptive Close
• Assumes the prospect wants to move
• Example:
– What time would you like us to put you
down for your free consultation?
7. Alternative Close
• Provide the prospect with two options
to choose from
• Example:
– We have workshops available on
Monday afternoon and Thursday
morning. Which one would you prefer
to be signed up for?”
8. Letting the Prospect Lead
• Look to the prospect to advise as to
the direction to take
• Examples:
– What would you like to do next?
– What direction would you like to go
in?
– Do you want to continue talking
about this?
– When would you like to talk again?
• Requires good execution in other
key areas
9. Turn Questions into Statements
• Change questions into statements to
motivate movement and commitment.
• Example:
– Question: Would you like to meet next
week?
– Statement: We should meet next week.
10. Evaluation Plan
Activity Date Owner Status
Meeting with Shawn Adams 6/25/2010 Smith Complete
Meeting with Executive team 7/23/2010 Smith Complete
Send info and call Shawn Adams first week of
August
Smith Open
Whiteboard session 8/13/2010 Smith/Adams Open
Process Recommendations/Proof of Capabilities 8/27/2010 Smith/Jones Open
Build Business Case 9/3/2010 Smith/Adams Open
Presentation of Draft Proposal and Contract Language 9/10/2010 Tech Inc./ XYZ Corp. Open
Communication of change requests to documents 9/17/2010 XYZ Corp. Open
Delivery of Final Executable Documents 9/24/2010 Smith Open
Partnership Agreement signed 9/30/2010 Tech Inc./ XYZ Corp. Open
Implementation TBD Tech Inc./ XYZ Corp. Open
Go live with partnership 1/2011 Tech Inc./ XYZ Corp. Open
11. Compelling Event
• Identify or create a compelling event and use that to drive the close
• Natural compelling event:
– Existing contract expiring
– Site opening or moving
– Existing system being discontinued
• Manufactured compelling event:
– Expiring discount
– Expiring promotion
– Limited product availability
12. Disqualifying
• To doubt or question the fit or potential
to move forward
• Examples:
– Maybe this is not the right direction for
you to go.
– It does not seem like this is something
you are really interested in.
• The exact opposite of what 90% of
other sales people do 100% percent of
the time
• Advanced sales tactic
13. Indirect Closing Tactics
• Communicating value
• Qualifying the prospect
• Finding pain
• Building rapport
• Building interest
• Building credibility
14. Key Takeaways
• Closing should be one of the easiest steps of your sales process
• There are things you can do to be a better closer
• Qualifying prospects better will immediately improve your close rate
• Trial close every step of the way
• Use a mix of direct and indirect closing techniques to improve results
15. If You Want More Help
• Books / Ebooks
– The Cold Calling Equation – Problem Solved
– Do’s and Don’ts of Cold Calling
– How to Get around Cold Call Objections
– How to Build a Value Proposition that Generates Leads
– How to Build Sales Campaigns that Sell
– How to Build Email Drip Campaigns that Convert Sales
• Videos
– Dozens of how to videos and slide decks
• 10 week web-based training program
• One-on-one sales coaching and consulting
• SalesScripter
– www.salesscripter.com
– Walk-through services available
Pros: Trial closing improves qualifying and deal management by collecting valuable information. This tactic can also improve rapport, as it can sub-communicate positive vibes like confidence, experience, abundance, and putting the prospect’s interests first.
Cons: One challenge with this tactic is that it gives the prospect an opportunity to share negative thoughts and gives him more control. If you have not been successful in building interest and rapport and you then invite the prospect to share thoughts, you might not get the answers that you want to hear.
Pros: This can help to push a prospect along before he can object or change his mind. This may also motivate a prospect who might be in a neutral or on-the-fence position to act.
Cons: This level of aggressiveness might sub-communicate negative vibes to the prospect, and this could negatively impact rapport and credibility. This approach could push away a prospect who was in a neutral position.
Pros: This can help to push a prospect along before he can object or change his mind. This may also motivate a prospect who might be in a neutral or on-the-fence position to act.
Cons: This level of aggressiveness might sub-communicate negative vibes to the prospect, and this could negatively impact rapport and credibility. This approach could push away a prospect who was in a neutral position.
Pros: Letting the prospect lead can help to build rapport, as it is a very unthreatening way to interact with prospects. This can also increase the quality of leads as you will know that all of the prospects you are meeting with want to be there and were not pressured to do anything.
Cons: One challenge with this tactic is that it gives the prospect more control. If you have not been successful in building interest and rapport and then you give control to the prospect to chose what direction to go in, he might not chose to go in the right direction.
Pros: This tactic displays confidence and can motivate action.
Cons: One downside to this tactic is that you are telling the prospect what to do instead of letting the prospect tell us what to do. This can motivate action but we may create action with prospects who are not fully on board and this could decrease the quality of leads.