When I started my sales career in 1995, the greatest compliment one could receive was to be considered a closer. The courage and charisma it took to sit across from a decision-maker, ask them to trade their money for your product or service, and then challenge them if they delayed or said no was a rare combination reserved for closers only. Closers walked differently. Closers dressed differently. Closers made more money. Everyone in sales wanted to be a closer.
Is that still the case? Does it matter? How many times does a b2b salesperson get in front of a decision-maker to talk about an order? Since decisions are typically made behind closed doors by committees, is closing still a valuable selling skill today?
In short, yes.
A more accurate answer is that closing is more important than it used to be. The hardcore back and forth battles of wits and objections are no longer common. However, it is extremely valuable to have the confidence and skill to ask for an order, invite confrontation, and exit a conversation with not just a commitment, but a contact who is thrilled to buy from you. If you want to be great, then closing is a very valuable skill today. In fact, it’s necessary. Let me explain my reasoning…
In today’s world of b2b buying, managers are afraid of making decisions because nothing is private. We now have committees that make decisions behind closed doors and away from salespeople. It might be an owner and a general manager of a small business or an executive committee of a corporation, but no salespeople to close them. They just look at spreadsheets and make a decision based on price and whatever the manager says. In that environment, the manager must be an internal champion that will run through walls to support and close for us. Hence my statement earlier about “a contact who is thrilled to buy from you…”. We can’t be there to close, so we need our point of contact to do it for us.
If you have the guts to ask the hard questions, it’s easy to convince another person to buy from you. However, being able to convince someone that you’re the best option in a way that also inspires them to such a level that they will risk their reputation to endorse you and sell for you is hard. I mean really hard. This is what a closer does today.
I’ve said for years that it’s easy to make a lot of money. It’s also easy to have a balanced family life. However, show me the person that does both and I’ll show you someone special. Doing both is hard. Show me someone who can close their point of contact and make them so thrilled with their decision that they will bust through walls selling internally for you, and I’ll show you a special salesperson. I’ll show you someone who invites confrontation and meets it with empathy, someone who glides through the room, and someone who attracts attention with their silence. I’ll show you a closer … a rare and talented sales professional in the 2020’s.
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