4 Tips to Closing a Sale

Many entrepreneurs operating start-up companies began their journey as salesman and gained valuable experience interacting with clients in a sales environment.  Working in the sales industry can help you develop your sales technique and get you more comfortable with being in a sales position and working towards making a deal.  For many entrepreneurs, however, this is not the case.

Without a sales background it can be difficult to make sales early on as you are learning as you go.  You begin to develop a good technique, begin to understand interactions between the salesman and the customer, and as you study you begin to understand the steps to a sale.  For many salesman, experienced or not, the most difficult part of the steps to a sale is to close.  Closing a sale can be an overwhelming experience for even an experienced salesman, so much so that businesses will hire people specifically to take turns from other salesman and close the deal.  While closing the sale can be intimidating, by following the proper steps to making a sale and avoiding a few pitfalls, making the close can be an easy and rewarding experience.

Here are a few quick tips to help you close a sale:

Work towards the close:

• Know your goal from the beginning, every step you take should be moving towards the close.
• Focus on finding solutions to the customers need and letting them know how your product is going to fulfill them.  Using words like "IS going to" as opposed to "will" will provide sublte hints that you're working towards the sale and prepares the customer for your close.  It will also give you some hints based on their response to where THEY are in the steps.
• Let the customer know your intentions.  You intend to find the solution to his problem and and that your are going to provide it to him.  Keeping the situation honest and customer focused will help you keep the customer in the buying mood and get the to trust you.

Use open ended questions and answers:

• Avoid questions that will lead to a yes or no answer.  Your questions should be open ended and asked with the intention of getting the customer to do most of the talking while you gather the information you need.
• Respond to questions with questions.  When the customer asks if a feature is included, ask if they would like it to be.
• The more questions you can get in, the more information you're going to get which will help you when its time to close.
• Offer a test drive or a free trial:
• Use what's referred to as the "new puppy" technique.
  • Offer the customer a chance to test out the product.  The intention of the new puppy technique is to get the customer attached to the product.
  • If you can get them to take a test drive or try the product out for a few days, the chance of completing the sale at the point of product return will increase tremendously.
  • Use return period to find more solutions to the customers problems.  If the product had something the customer didn't need or didn't get, use this time to find a solution and recommend the correct solution.

Ask for the sale:

• The biggest mistake a salesman can make is not asking for the sale and waiting for the customer to decide when they want to buy.  They won't without a little push most of the time.
• Keep an eye out for the signs that the customer is at the buying stage.  When they start focusing on specific features, costs and time lines you have a good sign its time to close the deal.
• Take control.  You've given the customer a sense of control by letting him do most of the talking.  Now its time to take the reigns and help make the decision for him.  Avoid asking if they want to buy blatantly.  Instead use a phrase like "we can get 500 of them to you on Friday for $1,000".  By making the decision for him you give him the chance to oppose the terms rather than the sale itself.