Five of the Best Sales Closing Techniques, or ‘Get Out of Sales’

Many of the best sales closing techniques have been developed over the years, and there are a few key ones which are worth highlighting due to their effectiveness. You will find them here in this blog post.

Employ minor agreements

One of the best closing sales techniques usually happens naturally. By getting a series of smaller “yeses,” you make it easier for the buyer to continue saying “yes” when you ask for the order.

As I said, in the modern consultative sales process, you generally get your “yeses” as a matter of course through your normal guiding questions. If not, then consider peppering the conversation with questions like:

“This is a problem for you, wouldn’t you agree?”

“So the Model X-1000 seems to be a better choice than the X-700 so far, correct?”

“It’s a funny story, don’t you think?”

The point is to get those nods and “yeses” throughout the conversation which prime the buyer to continue agreeing when the time comes to ask for the order.

Recognize the “Buyer’s Shift”

If you ask for the order before the buyer is ready, you kill your chances of making the sale. But, you also cannot wait too long after the buyer indicates he or she is ready to buy to pull the trigger, or they will become frustrated and buy elsewhere.

They key is to recognize when the buyer becomes ready through subtle physical and verbal cues. There is an entire list of them which we include as part of our sales training, and you probably already know many of them, such as: leaning forward; listening more attentively; making eye contact after avoiding it previously; smiling; rubbing face or chin.

When you perceive the buyer’s shift, it’s time to ask for the order.

Use “Feel” instead of “Think”

A better way to activate the emotional brain is to use a test closing question such as “How do you feel about this so far?” instead of “What do you think about this so far?” The difference is these sales closing techniques is subtle, but important to those who understand emotional selling. One wakes up the old brain, the other appeals to logic – which isn’t how people buy.

Stay silent after the closing question

I am sure by now in your selling career, you have heard this many times, but people still blow it all the time. They ask a closing question – then they take the pressure off the buyer by continuing to talk.  Allowing the buyer to respond, even if you are silent for a couple of minutes, is one of the most effective sales closing techniques.

Change the subject after the buyer agrees

This last one is painful when violated. Just about every new salesperson does it at least once.

You think you’ve sealed the deal, and as you bask in the glow of a nice future commission check, you start reassuring the buyer that they have made a great choice, they won’t regret it, you will make sure to oversee delivery personally, yada yada.

All of a sudden the buyer asks, “Now that you mentioned delivery…we can have that by tomorrow, right? Or else we will have to go elsewhere.” Unless you can get that delivery there by the next day, you have now introduced a possible deal-killer.

Instead, once the buyer says “yes,” thank them and ask them for a referral or talk about a current event…not the deal.

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