Discover the secrets to closing the sale by reexamining your approach and changing the way your mind thinks about selling
As salespeople, we’ve all looked for the secrets to closing the sale. We’ve studied the greats, looked at ways to work around objections, redefined how we relate to customers and clients, and, no doubt, every salesperson out there has taken more than a few sales classes or seminars.
These can all be inspiring in their own ways. It’s helpful when someone shares insight or tips. And you do have to deal with objections, rejections, and other concerns. You absolutely should take advantage of all the information you can get, then figure out what works for you and stick with it.
But some of the secrets to closing the sale that gets overlooked a lot involves the mental aspect of the process. Sales can be a very psychologically challenging field. You have to be “on” any time you talk to a customer or potential customer. Rejections can feel personal – especially when they pile up one right after the other. And it’s easy to compare your sales numbers to other people’s. But panic and frustration won’t help you close a sale. If anything, they make things worse. So let’s look at a few ways to change our mindset to help make the sales process more manageable.
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Discover the 5 secrets to closing the sale that your competition doesn’t want you to know about
1. Stop trying to sell and start trying to solve problems. When you attempt to close a sale, you have three possible outcomes: The customer either says yes, no, or they’ll think about it and get back to you. This is true for a new potential customer or when you’re attempting to upsell or renew a contract with a current client.
When you need to hit specific numbers or meet a quota, or you want to be the salesperson of the month, it can be all too easy to forget that sales is ultimately about solving a problem for your customer. Remember, no one cares about the cool new feature in your software or the energy-efficient cooling system in that timeshare condo complex. They want to know that something you’re offering can make their job easier or their lives more comfortable. Even your longest-term clients aren’t going to sign a new contract so that you can get your commission check.
This is one of the biggest and most effective secrets to closing the sale. Get your needs and wants out of the way. Focus 100% on how your offering will help your customer save money, be happier, work more efficiently, or improve their lives somehow. Make that mental switch, and you’ll be amazed how many more sales you close.
2. Don’t be afraid to be wrong. The most elite athletes on the planet are wrong somewhat regularly. That star quarterback miscalculates and throws an interception. A World Cup soccer goalie jumps too soon and misses the ball. The Olympic pole vaulter twists a half-second too late and hits the crossbar. Every single one of them will figure out what they did wrong and take that lesson with them to the next game or event.
3. Being wrong is how we learn. So when that sale falls through at the last minute, go back and listen to the call recordings, reread your emails, look at your script, read your notes and get curious. Where did things turn? Were there earlier indications that the customer wasn’t interested? Did you miss an important comment? These things will happen. And when they do, you can either let them get you down, or you can learn from them and do better.
4. Don’t lose the sale. This isn’t what you think. “Don’t lose the sale” doesn’t mean that you can’t let the customer go until they sign a deal. That could quite possibly get you into legal trouble. What it means is that you don’t have the sale to lose. When your customer walks away without buying something from you, they aren’t taking away a sale you already have on your books. You haven’t technically “lost” anything. You didn’t walk in with ten sales on the day and walk out with 9.
You may not have gained a sale. But that’s different. Challenge yourself to stop saying or thinking that you lost a sale.
5. Choose your ideal customer. This won’t work for everyone, but if you’re in a niche market, this is one of the secrets to closing the sale that’s guaranteed to give you a higher success rate. You can’t sell to everyone; it’s just not realistic. For example, there is a big market for financial advisors, but you could, in theory, choose to work with a pre-retirement population to help ensure they have everything in order. Or your specialty could be working with college-aged people starting their careers. Of course, that doesn’t mean you will only get those clients. But when you’re working primarily with your ideal customer, this streamlines your job and helps you focus. It takes away some of the stress and uncertainty you may face and helps change your mindset.
Remember that a significant part of success in sales is your attitude. You won’t close every sale. But when you change your mindset, you may very well start closing more and better sales.
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