On Monday I kicked off the campaign of helping you close out your sales appointments in a more effective manner. We discussed the strategy of giving your customer a five minute warning … if your meeting in scheduled to end at 10:30, let them know at 10:25 that you only have five minutes left. Today, I’m going to share a strategy with you to truly transition the meeting to closure and your relationship to one of authority and respect.
Strategy #2: You start closing down the meeting – don’t force your customer to do so. I learned this idea from a sales person who was trying to convince me to utilize her services. She did a very thorough job throughout the meeting, and at the end she stood up and said “I’ve gotta run.” This blew me away. I can’t remember a sales person ending a meeting with a prospect, but I was also impressed. She was busy, she was successful, and she was confident enough to end our meeting at the time upon which we agreed.
Here’s how it went, and I suggest you use this flow as a model…
“I’ve gotta run. However, before I go I want to make sure you’re ok with our action items. Are you sure these dates work for you?”
She then moved into the killer…
“We need to schedule more time on our next appointment so I can hear all about your trip to South Africa.” She wasn’t rude or uninterested. She presented a professional persona of someone who was successful, busy, and confident. I was left with a feeling of looking forward to our next meeting rather than thinking of ways to get out of it.
Strategy #2 to successfully closing a sales appointment: You start closing down the meeting before the prospect feels like they have to.
