Closing with Confidence
Closing the deal requires the highest skill sets of the sales process. It's the end of the game, and you have spent all this time and emotional energy cultivating the prospect, gaining their commitment, and putting everything in place. The objections have been covered. Their decision has been tied down and nailed shut, and now it's time to bring closure to everything.
What happens to you emotionally when you get to this state? What are the feelings that go through your mind at this point? And even more important, do you have a tendency to sabotage your deals on a subconscious level?
I believe that in the world of sales, there are many of us who at the end of the deal try to tank our situations. We would rather face the trauma of self-imposed failure than have a surprise come back to bite us. We would rather know what the conclusion is going to be than be faced with a surprising failure.
How can we change our attitudes towards this part of the process and approach it with more strength and less trepidation? Here are two tips that you can integrate into your closing process that will help you to close more deals with confidence:
Step One:
You must feel like you deserve to win. Simple concept. Seems almost too simple. But many of us live with limiting beliefs that money is evil or that it's wrong for us to desire to make money. Remember that money is a form of energy that is a representation of value and contribution. The more you contribute to others' lives, the more money you should make and deserve to make. In other words, it's perfectly acceptable to desire to generate a big income, one contribution at a time.
Step Two:
You must put the other person's best interests ahead of your own. With your prospects, early in the process, state something like this long before you present them to your clients: "I'll introduce you to my product or service, you'll then discover how this will personally benefit you, and you can decide for yourself if this is something you would like to do, Joe. Whatever you want to do, I'm okay with it. My goal is to expose you to this product or service because I believe that it will help you to increase your margins (or whatever the tangible quantifiable personal benefit would be), but only you can decide. All I ask for is total honesty with me. Sound okay with you?" That key phrase will put deposits in their emotional bank account with you and increase their trust level with you significantly. You are now a partner with them in their minds in helping them to explore a potentially better personal benefit…you are no longer a hungry sales person who sees this prospect as a walking invoice. Be a pressure valve, not a pressure builder.
By integrating the concept of deserving to win and pre-framing the relationship with your prospects, you will close more sales that stay closed because now you are expecting to win all the time, and building an authentic relationship and trust level with everyone who you can possibly impact.
Copyright © 2007 Scott Love
Scott Love shows managers and sales people how to manage their risk and win the game of business. He is a professional speaker and can be reached at 828-225-7700 or on his website at www.nolimitachievement.com
