Closing is still a necessary skill for greatness, but it’s different today. Over a four-week period, I’m presenting four ideas to closing sales in the security technology industry today. During the last three weeks I introduced Idea #1: You’ve got to prepare your point of contact (POC) to close the sale for you; Idea #2: Get to know the members of the decision-making committee, and Idea #3: After the proposal stage, send tailored content in a timely manner. This week we present our fourth and final idea on closing sales in today’s environment.
Idea #4: Ask for the order.
Ok, I know this is not a new idea, but many salespeople have dismissed this step and many sales managers no longer hold their team accountable to asking for the order. Sure, the buying process has changed and as we’ve discussed, it’s rare to get an audience with a decision-maker at the time of decision. Yes, this makes it difficult to ask for the order, but you still need to do so. The methods and timing are different than they used to be, but you still need to ask for the order.
The first thing to remember is that you’re working with humans, not machines. Gaining verbal commitments six weeks before the decision absolutely makes a difference. They’ve given their word, though not locked in a contract. They’re human – their word matters to most humans.
The timing of asking for the order is the second thing to consider. Some people think that the term “always be closing” is a dinosaur of business phrases. I believe that it’s more important now than ever, but the method is different. If you are always closing like we were taught years ago, then we won’t be invited back to the relationship because of how annoying we are. However, to make sure that we’re on the right track and narrowing in on winning the sale, we must always be closing … just in a different way.
Finally, the method. Technically, our closing method of today sounds more like qualification. Envision a wide funnel getting more and more narrow as the buying process progresses. Your job is to continue to ask questions, match the solution to their problems, ask if your solution works for them, and repeat until they say yes. After their initial affirmation, confirm their answer with: “With this final solution and pricing, do you think your committee will move forward with us?” Then, be quiet until they answer. If you don’t receive a yes, keep asking what needs to change until you do. If they’re not willing to answer for the committee, take away the pressure by stating: “I’m not look for a commitment – I just want to deliver the best proposal possible and need your help.”
That’s it. I hope you enjoyed our four posts on closing in today’s environment:
- You’ve got to prepare your point of contact to close the sale for you.
- Get to know the members of the decision-making committee.
- After the proposal stage, send tailored content.
- Ask for the order.
