9/7/2023-Closing

Worry less about how to develop your closing muscle versus all the other skills that are needed: needs analysis, qualifying and objection handling.

According to HubSpot, 71% of sales professionals say their top priority is to close more deals.

And according to CSO Insights, 61% of surveyed salespeople feel they’re good at identifying customers’ pain points.

So…what does all of this mean?

It means 29% of sellers are running around with the wrong priorities, and 39% are not competent in identifying customers’ pain points. (Stinks to be them, eh?)

Don’t worry about them. YOU focus on you, and how closing is contingent on knowing exactly what your customer needs.

Today, focus on asking about objections and client needs in your customer meetings.

First, ask a needs analysis question that will get you closer to understanding how aligned your offering is with your prospect’s needs. Try this one: "Which of your specific goals do you think our offering can help you with?"

Next, ask an objection-surfacing question like this one, "What is currently preventing us from moving this deal forward?"

Whatever questions you develop in your voice, straighten the spine today and ask direct, specific questions that get you closer to closing.

Don’t think of closing as a singular selling skill, think of it as a combination of skills and specific techniques.

Sellers earn the right to close when they’ve aligned their offering with the buyer’s needs, and collaboratively worked through obstacles and objections.

More or less.

If a mathematician were attempting to create a formula that defined closing, it might look like this:

Closing = needs analysis + qualifying + objection handling.

But what about the ol’ fashioned asking for the business?

Good question. Presenting a confident proclamation to the buyer that you want their business is important (you’re not just there to party and dance, right?).

But if you’re gonna take that approach and ask for the biz, justify it. Explain to the buyer why you think you deserve it.

Watch real estate agent Carolyn Burnham, brilliantly portrayed by Annette Bening, psyche herself up to close a house in this one-minute clip from the movie American Beauty.

If it were as simple as repeating, "I will close this deal today" – as Carolyn does – then everyone would close business quickly and effortlessly.

Focus on moving your customer down the funnel…but if you need an extra psyche job like the one Carolyn uses, go for it.