What’s the best way to close a sales pitch? How can a strong closing help you increase your chances of clinching the deal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When crafting their pitch, beginner salespeople often make the mistake of neglecting the close. But a brilliant sales pitch is worth nothing if it is not followed by a strong closing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are some tips on how to close a sales pitch effectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
By the time you arrive at the close of your pitch, you should have prepared your prospect to be receptive to your request for the sale by setting up her expectations with a strong opening and by increasing her desire with a focus on the benefits of whatever you are selling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s important to close as soon as your prospect is ready. Watch for this readiness as you go through your pitch. Often, a salesperson will actually delay\u2014and sometimes lose\u2014a sale because she doesn’t ask for it soon enough based on her customer\u2019s cues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now that you\u2019ve had an open conversation, you should have identified the hot-button issue<\/em>: the issue that your customer cares about over every other issue. If your previous questions haven\u2019t revealed the hot-button issue by this point, you can very often discover it by asking a hypothetical question along the lines of, \u201cIf you were going to buy this product now or at any time in the future, what would cause you to do so?\u201d Making it hypothetical often inspires the customer to reveal what would convince her to move forward with the sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you know her hot-button issue, continue to press it, over and over. Make the entire decision revolve around that issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As soon as you\u2019ve identified your prospect\u2019s hot-button issue and gotten her to agree that your product addresses it, assume she agrees to the sale and act accordingly. In other words, force your customer to stop the sale from going through rather than wait for her to ask for the sale to happen.<\/strong> For example, after she agrees that your product can help her double her sales, take out an order sheet and start filling it out. Often, a prospect will not stop you: They agree with your assessment and just need a little push to keep the momentum going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With the trial close<\/em> method, check in with your prospect at several points in your presentation to make sure you are on the right track and to test for your prospect\u2019s readiness to close. For example, you might ask, \u201cDoes this make sense so far?\u201d or \u201cWould this improve your current system?\u201d You can refer to a specific benefit to make it even stronger: \u201cThis copy machine will make 140 copies a minute. Would this be important to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The benefit of the trial close is that it allows you to adjust your presentation in real time if your prospect indicates she isn\u2019t connecting to the particular feature you\u2019re discussing. For example, if you ask, \u201cWould producing 140 copies a minute be important to you?\u201d and she tells you that it wouldn\u2019t because her department never makes that many copies at a time, then you can pivot to highlight a different feature with a different benefit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You will need different closing methods depending on the type of product or service you\u2019re selling. In general, tangible products require different closes than intangible products, and each type of product works on a different closing schedule. Here are some guidelines on how to close a sales pitch for tangible vs intangible products: <\/p>\n\n\n\nTip 3: Assume the Sale<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tip 4: Use a Trial Close<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tip 5: Differentiate Between Tangible and Intangible Sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n