The Seven Key Results Areas

Focus your time and efforts on improving these areas of your sales strategy to achieve amazing
sales success:
1) Prospecting Power: Finding more and better qualified people to talk about your product or
service. The best salespeople have the most complete strategies and plans to develop the highest
quality prospects who can, and will buy from them.
2) Relationship Selling: Building high levels of trust, rapport and credibility with each prospect. A
person will not buy from you until he or she is convinced you are their friend and acting in their best
interests.
3) Identifying Needs Accurately: Asking good questions to learn exactly how and why your product
or service is the ideal choice for this customer. The most important thing you can do as a
salesperson is uncover the true needs or problems of the prospect that your product can solve.
4) Making Persuasive Presentations: Showing the customer clearly why he should buy your
product or service now. Delivering an effective presentation can increase your sales by several times
over an uncoordinated presentation.
5) Overcoming Objections: Dealing effectively with the questions and concerns of the prospect that
holds him or her back from buying. In order to increase sales you must be prepared to hear a “no”
and continue selling. Objections mean the prospect is interested.
6) Closing the Sale: Confidently asking the prospect to make a buying decision and take action.
7) Getting Re-sales and Referrals: Taking such good care of your customers that they buy, buy
again, and tell their friends to buy from you. By continually building and maintaining a “customers for
life” relationship, your sales success will be assured.

Rapport: 7 Ways to Build Rapport

1. Be genuine. Before the first day of school, first jobs, camp, and any family get-together, Dad
always said, “Just be yourself and everything will be fine.” This lesson applies to generating
rapport with prospects and customers.

Be genuine. Be yourself. Don’t try to be anything you are not, create a new persona, or adopt a “sales-
like” tone. Relax, smile, and go in with a positive attitude. Good things will follow. As Oscar Wilde
said, "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."

2. Be warm and friendly. Chilly people get chilly reactions from other people. Approach
rapport building with the intent to be warm and friendly. Smile, give a firm handshake, make
eye contact, and engage.
3. Show interest. No surprise to anyone, people are self-focused. This is quite helpful to those of us in
selling because we need to learn about our prospects before we can provide the best solutions. People
want to feel like they have an opening to share what they’re thinking, including their desires, fears,
and problems. The more genuinely interested you appear the more relaxed and willing to share they’re
likely to be.
4. Don’t seem too needy. Most of us know someone who wanted to be liked, so he “tried hard,” but it
didn’t work. In trying to be liked, he appeared needy and conspicuous. You cannot force rapport.
 Show interest, but don’t act subservient, overly friendly, or too pushy or you will only turn the other
person off. Don’t come on like gangbusters.
5. Give genuine compliments. Sycophants get nowhere, but genuine compliments are endearing. If you
like the office, someone’s web site, or are impressed with their book, say so. If your prospect had a
recent accomplishment, relay your authentic congratulations. This can go a long way towards building
rapport and they’ll appreciate it.
6. Calibrate the rapport to “just right.” New salespeople are often overly sensitive to the time
of a potential buyer. They often think, “I have an hour for this meeting and she’s a CEO of a
mid-size company. I need to use the whole time to get my points across. No time for
chitchat.” So he dives right in with no ice breaking conversation and it doesn’t go well.

Others can spend too much time chatting, and the prospect might get antsy to get down to
business. Do your best to read the other person and find the right amount of rapport-focused
conversation.
7. Read the culture. Always be yourself but, at the same time, you can adjust your approach to
the other person and company. Don’t change who you are to fit the culture, but be aware of
how the culture works and how it best responds.

For example, if they’re a suit and tie joint, showing up with your Grateful Dead ’95 tour tie-
dyed shirt won’t fly so well. (Unless you're meeting with me, then I’d be impressed.) And if
there’s a jeans and sneakers place with a 'Never Lose Your Whimsy!' sign on the wall…you
get the idea.

If you’re curious to know where to start with rapport building, the following questions will help.

Questions for Rapport Building in Sales

 How was your weekend? Anything interesting?

 It was good to hear the short version of your background at the meeting, but since we’re out for lunch,
I’d love to get the long version. What’s your story?

 I have to say, I really like your (insert something about them…their lobby, the artwork on their walls,
how friendly their staff is, or anything else you actually liked, then ask an open-ended question about
that particular thing).

 Are you from this area? Oh, interesting. I know people in…do you know (this person)? Oh, I’ve never
been there, but I heard it’s got…the most amazing restaurants…the most amazing scenery…the most
amazing fly fishing.

 Welcome to the town. Have you been to Scottsdale before? Where are you staying? What’s that like?
A lot different from Vancouver, wouldn’t you say?
 1) Research prospects on LinkedIn
Before every call, I review my prospect’s LinkedIn profile. Here are the things I look
for:
 Are they smiling in their profile picture?
 How are they dressed?
 What’s the background of their photo?
 What kind of hairstyle do they have?
 Do they have an advanced degree?
 Have I been to a place they’re from, or went to school in?

The answers to these questions won’t tell you everything you need to know, of course,
but they’ll give you clues to how your prospect perceives themselves and will behave.
A 50-year-old man in a tie will behave differently than a millennial in a T-shirt and will
quite naturally respond differently to the questions you ask.

2) Understand your prospect’s persona

Buyer personas describe business pain, job function, and other firmographic data that
sum up who a prospect is and what they care about. Your company probably already
has demographic information on who makes up your customer base. But you have to
understand more than just demographics. You should also understand their priorities
and how their job shapes their business focus -- that’s what makes a good buyer
persona.

For example, in my role, I speak with individual contributors in Marketing and Sales, as
well as senior executives. Marketers might be protective of their marketing efforts but
are typically eager to learn and willing to collaborate with me to strengthen their long-
term marketing strategy.

Salespeople are all about their numbers and very interested in specific and fast ways
they can hit or exceed their numbers. Executives are all about strategic advantage,
growing the business, and are interested in understanding competitive landscapes, the
advantages your product will give them over other business, and other blockers to
growth.
 Each of these personas cares about different things, has a different personality, and
needs to be communicated with differently. Rapport-building is all about meeting
people on their turf and treating them how they want to be treated, so understanding
your prospects’ personas is crucial.

3) Get prospects to laugh

Laughter is the best way to start a call. If you can make a prospect laugh, you make
them more comfortable (and more likely to tell you what’s going on) and remind them
that you’re a human too -- not just a faceless sales robot. It also makes the experience
more enjoyable. Prospects who enjoy talking to me will spend more time in the sales
process and will look forward to my calls more if they can relate to me on a level
beyond just business.

4) Ask good opening questions

I ask extremely general questions to understand where the prospect is coming from. For
each of these questions, the prospect’s voice tone is just as important as their answer.
Are they into the conversation? Do they find it annoying? Do they seem distracted or
engaged?

These questions are fun and lighthearted, and are an easy way to start getting to know
your prospect without jumping right into qualification questions. Your objective is just
to get your prospect talking as much as possible early on in the conversation so you can
learn more about them as a person.

Avoid generic questions about the weather or sports -- “How’s the weather in
Scottsdale?” or “How about the Celtics this season?” might seem like easy places to
start, but they’re pedestrian questions that your prospect has probably heard dozens of
times.
Open-Ended Conversation Starters

Use these questions to gauge your prospect’s mood and state of mind:
 "How are you doing?"
 "Are you having any fun today?"
 "Wow, I can’t believe it’s Friday already. What’s your favorite day of the week?"
 Lighthearted Universal Preferences

These questions can start a fun, playful discussion that helps you relate to your prospect
on a personal level:
 "Are you a cat or a dog person?"
 "What’s your favorite drink?"
 "How long have you lived in [city]? What’s your favorite restaurant? Your favorite time of year?"

Employment-Based Questions

These questions help you form a picture of your prospect on a professional level:
 "How long have you worked at your company?"
 "What is it like to work in X industry?"
 "How did you land in your current role?"

5) Know when to switch to the sales conversation

Building rapport is not relationship selling. The days of Johnny Prospect buying from
you because you are friends and took him for a round of golf and a steak dinner are
over.

I usually spend three to six minutes on rapport-building, but with some people and in
some markets, I spend double that. It’s all about reading your prospect -- some will be
happy to talk your ear off, while others want to get straight to business.

Too much rapport-building can also make you seem like a glad-handing relationship
seller. Just last week, I was shooting the breeze on a closing call with my prospect and
referenced "The Wolf" in Pulp Fiction. It was just a little too much -- my prospect
politely laughed but immediately steered the conversation back to the product.
After you ask a question, hit the mute button. Let the prospect talk and listen. You’ll
hear the point where your prospect is thinking, “Enough chitchat -- let’s talk business.”
Once you hit that point, move to the agenda and the reason for your call today.

6) Ask follow-up questions

Don't make small talk just to hear yourself speak. Build a relationship with your
prospect by asking follow-up questions the next time you talk.

If you're sending them an email, add a sentence or two letting them know you watched
that movie they mentioned during your last conversation.
 At the beginning of your next call, inquire how their ski trip went last weekend. And as
you're leaving a voicemail, throw in a question about how their daughter's dance recital
went.

If you ask great questions but never build on them, your relationships will be less
substantive and more shallow. Ask prospects genuine questions, and care what their
answers are and what happens next.

Customer Needs & Qualification Questions

1. What are your short-term goals? Long-term goals?
2. What does this purchase mean to you? What does it mean to your company?
3. What is your boss hoping to accomplish in the next year?
4. How do your team objectives play into your department's strategy?
5. What do you perceive as your greatest strength? Weakness?
6. How does your company evaluate the potential of new products or services?
7. Who has your business now? Why did you choose that vendor?
8. What are your short-term goals? Long-term goals?
9. What does this purchase mean to you? What does it mean to your company?
10. What is your boss hoping to accomplish in the next year?
11. How do your team objectives play into your department's strategy?
12. What do you perceive as your greatest strength? Weakness?
13. How does your company evaluate the potential of new products or services?
14. Who has your business now? Why did you choose that vendor?
15. What are your buying criteria and success criteria?
16. Where would you put the emphasis regarding price, quality, and service?
17. What level of service are you looking for?
18. What do you like best about your present supplier? What don't you like?
19. What do you look for in the companies you do business with?
20. What might cause you to change suppliers?
 21. What do you like best about your current system? What would you like to see
changed?
22. What do you perceive your needs to be? How important are they?
23. If you were me, how would you proceed?
24. Which trade associations do you belong to?
25. What will it take for us to do business?
26. How soon can we begin?
27. What is my best shot for getting back the account?
28. What did we do in the last sale that impressed you most?
29. What do you look for in your relationship with a supplier?
30. Who was the best salesperson who ever called on you?
31. If you could change one thing about your organization, what would it be?
32. Do you struggle with [common pain point]?
33. What deadlines are you currently up against?
34. Which resource could you use more of?
35. Would you rather cut costs, save money, or increase productivity?
*Interesting note: none of these suggest asking what their needs are, or why are they
having a conversation with me.

Sales Objections
4 Steps to Overcoming Sales Objections

Written by Mike Schultz

President, RAIN Group

The word "no" can be a tough pill to swallow.

1. Listen Fully to the Objection
Your first reaction when you hear an objection may be to jump right in and respond
immediately. Resist this temptation. When you react too quickly, you risk making
assumptions about the objection. Take the time to listen to the objection fully.
 Do not react defensively. Train yourself to ignore any negative emotions you may be feeling,
and stay focused on what the buyer is saying and the business problem you are helping to
solve. Listen with the intent of fully understanding the buyer's concerns without bias or
anticipation, and allow your body language and verbal confirmations to communicate to the
buyer that you are listening intently.
2. Understand the Objection Completely
Many objections hide underlying issues that the buyer can't or isn't ready to articulate. Often
the true issue isn't what the buyer first tells you. It's your job to get to the heart of the
objection, and then fully understand it and its true source.

To do this, you must ask permission from the buyer to understand and explore the issue. Once
explored, restate the concern as you understand it. Sometimes when you restate the objection,
the buyer sees the issue more fully, and you get closer to the true source of the objection as a
result. Even after the buyer confirms you understand perfectly, ask "What else?" and "Why"
questions for clarification. Often it is the answer to that last "What else?" that contains the
biggest barrier to moving the sale forward.
3. Respond Properly
After you're confident you've uncovered all objections, address the most important objection
first. Once you work through the greatest barrier to moving forward, other concerns may no
longer matter or feel as important to the buyer.

You should do your best to resolve their issue right away. The more you can resolve issues in
real time, the greater chance you have of moving the sale forward. If you need more
information to resolve a specific concern, you may have to look something up. Don't wing
it—buyers can sense that and it creates distrust. Long-winded responses can seem insincere,
so keep your responses clear and to the point.
4. Confirm You've Satisfied the Objection
Once you've responded to the buyer's objections, check if you've satisfied all of their
concerns. Just because they nodded during your response doesn't mean they agreed with
everything you said. Ask if the buyer is happy with your solution and explain your solution
further if necessary. Some objections require a process to overcome, not just a quick answer.
 If the client isn't ready, don't try to force a commitment. Be sure not to accept a lukewarm
"yes" for an answer though, either. Many buyers will accept a solution in the moment, but
once you're out of sight or off the phone, the objection still remains.

When faced with sales objections, don't lose sight of your goal. Use the steps above to Listen,
Understand, Respond and Confirm, and you will strengthen your relationships with buyers,
overcome obstacles in the buying process, and move closer to the sale.

Sales Objections About Price and

Budget
1. “It’s too expensive.”
Price objections are the most common type of objection, and are even voiced
by prospects who have every intention of buying. Beware -- the moment you
start focusing on price as a selling point, you reduce yourself to a transactional
middleman. Instead, circle back to the product’s value.

2. “There’s no money.”
It could be that your prospect’s business simply isn’t big enough or generating
enough cash right now to afford a product like yours. Track their growth and see
how you can help your prospect get to a place where your offering would fit into
their business.

3. “We don’t have any budget left this year.”

A variation of the “no money” objection, what your prospect’s telling you here is
that they’re having cash flow issues. But if there’s a pressing problem, it needs
to get solved eventually. Either help your prospect secure budget from
executives to buy now, or arrange up a follow-up call for when they expect
funding to return.

4. "We need to use that budget somewhere else."

Prospects sometimes try to earmark resources for other uses. It's your job to
make your product/service a priority that deserves budget allocation now. Share
case studies of similar companies that have saved money, increased efficiency,
or had a massive ROI with you.

5. “I don’t want to get stuck in a contract.”

A prospect with a genuine need and interest who balks at time-based contract
terms is generally hesitant for cash flow reasons. Luckily for you, there are
workarounds -- find out if you can offer month-by-month or quarter-by-quarter
payment instead of asking for a year or more commitment up front.

Sales Objections About the Competition

6. “We’re already working with [Vendor X].”
A prospect who’s working with a competitor is a blessing in disguise. They’ve
already recognized a need and identified a solution, so much of the education
you’d otherwise be responsible for has already been done. You can spend your
time doing the one thing you’d have to hold off on with a prospect who hasn’t
recognized their pain yet -- talk about your product.

Just because a prospect is working with a competitor doesn’t mean they’re

happy with them. Probe into the relationship: Why did they choose this service?
What’s working well? What’s not? Pay special attention to complaints that could
be solved with your product.

7. “I’m locked into a contract with a competitor.”

Perhaps the easiest competitor-related objection to handle, this phrase is
worded in a way that broadcasts your prospect’s feeling of being trapped. See if
you can come up with a creative discount to offset the cost of breaking a
contract early, or demonstrate ROI that will make up for the sunk cost.

Of course, your prospect could have simply chosen an overly negative turn of
phrase. Ask them point-blank how the relationship is going to determine
whether they’re actually happy or are itching for a vendor switch.
8. “I can get a cheaper version of your product
somewhere else.”
Find out what you’re dealing with here. Are you in a competitive situation, and
the prospect is playing you against a competitor to drive up discounts? Or is
your prospect under the impression that a similar, cheaper product can do
everything they need?

If it’s the former, lay out your deepest discount and emphasize the features that
make your product superior. Walk away if they ask you to go lower. In the
second scenario, take advantage of the comparison. What are the points of
differentiation that provide your prospect the most value? Play them up and
emphasize overall worth, not cost.

9. “I’m happy with [Competitor X].”

What if your prospect is happy? The same strategy still applies -- find out why
they believe their relationship with your competitor is beneficial, and identify
weak spots where your product could do better.

10. “Competitor X says [false statement about your

product].”
According to creator of Your SalesMBA® Jeff Hoffman, salespeople should
respond with,
“That’s not true,” then pause.

Hoffman says 90% of the time this reply will satisfy the buyer and they’ll move
on. You’ll seem confident and collected, whereas your competitor will seem
desperate and insecure.

If your prospect is still unsure, they’ll ask another question. At that point, you
can provide more background, like so:

“We manufacture our products in Canada, not Thailand. I have a map of our factories
and distribution routes if you’d like to see it.”
Sales Objections About Authority or
Ability to Buy
11. “I’m not authorized to sign off on this purchase.”
No problem. Ask your prospect who for the name of the right person to speak
to, and then redirect your call to them.

12. “I can’t sell this internally.”

Well, your prospect might not be able to, but you can. After all, you sell your
product every day. Ask your prospect what objections they anticipate, and help
them prepare the business case for adopting your product. Check with
Marketing to see if there’s any collateral you can leverage on your prospect’s
behalf.

13. "[Economic buyer] isn't convinced."

If you've already addressed objection #12 by providing internal selling advice
and coaching and your prospect just can't hack it, it might be time to walk away.
While it's heartrending to give up on a prospect who's on your side and just
can't convince the higher-ups, it's also a waste of your time to keep butting
heads with someone who will never see your product's value.

14. "We're being downsized / bought out."

This happens rarely, but when it does there's usually nothing you can do. If
there's no more company, there's no more deal. Wrap the relationship
professionally so when your prospect finds a new gig, they'll be more likely to
restart the conversation from a new company.

15. “There’s too much going on right now.”

Ask your prospect to define their competing priorities for you. If they can’t, it’s
likely a brush-off and you should press them on precisely why they don’t want to
engage with you.
If they can provide concrete answers, don’t sweat it. Set a meeting time for a
follow up and send over helpful resources in the meantime to stay on your
prospect’s radar.

16. “I’m part of a buying group.”

Buying groups enable independent companies to team up and make joint
purchases from vendors -- usually getting a far better price than they’d be able
to secure on their own.

If your company isn’t on their list of approved suppliers, however, your prospect
probably won’t be interested. After all, you can’t offer them the same discount
for purchasing in bulk.

Respond to this objection by delving into the details of their membership. Are
there limits on who they can buy from? What price are they currently getting?
Which companies belong to their buying coalition?

When you’ve learned more, you can decide whether it makes economic sense
for this prospect to work with you -- and if there’s an opportunity to become one
of their buying group’s vendors.

Sales Objections About Need and Fit

17. “I’ve never heard of your company.”
Treat this objection as a request for information. Don’t give an elevator pitch,
but provide a very quick summary of your value proposition.

For example:

“We’re a company that sells ad space on behalf of publishers like yourself. I’d love to
speak with you about your revenue model and see if we can help.”
18. “We're doing great in X area.”
If you hear this objection, do a little more qualification. What are your prospect’s
goals? How much progress has been made?
19. "We don't have that business pain."
This objection is often raised as a brush-off, or because prospects haven't
realized they're experiencing a certain problem yet. And while ultimately you
might discover they really don't need your product, don't take this objection at face
value.
20. “X problem isn’t important right now.”
Sometimes, a simple “Oh?” will be enough for your prospect to start talking.
Listen closely for real reasons the need has low priority versus platitudes. Keep
in mind that excuses can be a sign that your prospect understands they have a
problem and is trying to rationalize their inaction. Capitalize on this and instill a
sense of urgency.
21. “I don’t see what your product could do for me.”
Another request for information packaged as an objection. Reconfirm the goals
or challenges you’ve discussed and explain how your product can solve specific
problems.

22. “I don’t understand your product.”

If your prospect literally can’t wrap their head around your product, that’s a bad
sign. If your product is particularly complicated or specialized, it may be time to
disqualify your prospect lest they churn two months from now.

Don’t give up immediately, though. Ask your prospect what aspects of your
product they’re unclear on, then try explaining it in a different way. Alternatively,
bring in a technician or product engineer to answer questions out of your depth.

23. “I’ve heard complaints about you from

[company].”
Word-of-mouth reviews are powerful, which can be both a blessing and a curse.
Rather than immediately defending your solution, business, or brand -- which
will only validate the criticism -- say something along the lines of, “Thanks for
sharing that feedback with me. I’ll pass it along to [relevant department].”
Then follow up with an offer to add value, such as, “While we’re on the phone,
would you be interested in hearing a few tips for improving your average invoicing
turnaround time?”

This gives you an opportunity to establish credibility and trust with your
prospect. Once you’ve given them a positive experience, they’ll naturally form a
high opinion of you.

24. “We don’t have capacity to implement the

product.”
This objection can be a deal-killing roadblock. Depending on what product you
sell, it’s possible your prospect will have to add headcount or divert resources to
fully take advantage of your offering, and if they truly aren’t able to, you might
have to disqualify.

Another tactic is to assess your prospect’s current duties and day-to-day to see
what job responsibilities could potentially be eliminated or made easier by your
product.

25) “Your product is too complicated.”

Find out if your prospect is confused about specific features or if the product is
indeed over their head. If it’s the latter, you might have to disqualify. But if it’s
the former, remind your prospect that they’ll have help from your customer
service team should they choose to buy and that you’ll be on hand to answer
any implementation questions they have.

26. “You don’t understand my challenges. I need help

with Y, not X.”
It’s crucial to make your prospect feel heard. Restate your impression of their
situation, then align with your prospect’s take and move forward from there. A
lot of misunderstandings and hard feelings can be resolved simply by
rephrasing your prospect’s words.
27. “You don’t understand my business.”
If you sell to a specific industry, chances are you do know a bit about your
prospect’s business. Let them know that you have experience working with
similar companies, and have solved similar problems in the past.

If you simply made an incorrect assumption about your prospect’s company or

industry, don’t be afraid to own up to it. Your prospects will appreciate your
candor. Say, “Sorry -- I assumed X was true, but it looks like that doesn’t apply to
your business. Can you tell me a little more about X?”
28. “Your product doesn’t have X feature, and we need
it.”
Try suggesting a supplementary product that can be used in conjunction with
yours. But if that specific need is a must-have and your product can’t solve it,
your prospect might not be a good fit. Time to disqualify and move along to a
better fit opportunity.

29. “We’re happy the way things are.”

Maybe everything really is going swimmingly. But more likely, your prospect is
having some sort of challenge (after all, who isn’t?). Do some light qualification
to determine if they’re facing any problems you can solve, then move forward or
disqualify based on their answers.

30. “I don’t see the potential for ROI.”

This is a sign that you’ll have to prepare a formal pitch for either your contact or
her managers, either using internal numbers provided by your prospect or
customer case studies. Nothing sells quite like hard numbers.

31. “X is just a fad.”

You might hear this objection if your product pioneers a concept that’s new to
your prospect’s industry. For example, social media is now widely accepted to
be a necessary part of a sound business strategy, but seven years ago many
would have scoffed at it.
 Now is the time to pull out any testimonials or customer case studies you have
to prove ROI of your product. If you’re pioneering a new concept or practice,
you’ll have to show that it works.

32. “Your product doesn’t work with our current

[tools, set-up].”
This objection can be a deal-breaker if the buyer is committed to their existing
solutions. However, sometimes your product will replace these tools or make
them obsolete. A workaround may be possible as well.

To find out, ask these questions:

 “Which tools are you currently using?”

 “How integral are those tools to your [strategy for X, department, individual
responsibilities]?
 “What do those products help you accomplish?”
33. “Your product sounds great, but I’m too swamped
right now to handle [implementation, roll-out].”
Prospects are often put off by the effort required to switch products, even if the
ROI is substantial.

To empathize with them, prove that you’re trustworthy, and ensure they do have
the bandwidth, say, “I understand. It typically takes our customers [X days/weeks] to
get fully up and running with [your product].”

Next, combat their reluctance to change by digging into the costs or pains of
their current situation.

To give you an idea, you might ask, “How many minutes do you spend every day
[on X task]?”

Then calculate what they stand to gain -- in time, efficiency, money, or all of the
above.

The Close
Asking for the Sale
Use these non-aggressive closing questions to make the buyer feel comfortable
-- without completely taking off the pressure.

1) "Is there any reason, if we gave you the product at

this price, that you wouldn't do business with our
company?”
This one turns salespeople into Jedi mind trick masters. In an Inc. article,
Geoffrey James pointed out that if the prospect answers “no” to this question,
the rep has indirectly gotten them to agree to the contract. If the answer is
“yes,” however, the rep has the opportunity to address objections without
bringing the deal to a halt.
2) "If we could find a way to deal with [objection],
would you sign the contract on [set period in time]?”
Objections often kill deals. But in this case, handling the objection is actually a
way of closing the sale. Of course, this depends on the company’s ability to
resolve the problem by a given date. But if a fix is possible, getting the customer
to commit ahead of time is a clever way of turning a con into a pro.

3) "It seems like [product] is a good fit for [company].

What do you think?"
This question automatically makes your prospect think of all the reasons they're
interested in buying. Because you end by asking for their opinion, it sounds
genuine rather than self-serving. And once they say something like, "Yeah, I
think it could really help us with X," you've got the perfect segue into "Great, I'll
send over the proposal right now."
4) “Would you like my help?”
This is the closing line espoused by Dave Kurlan in his book Baseline Selling. It’s
sort of perfect: gentle and friendly without being obscure or weak. Plus, it
enforces the rep’s image as an advisor rather than a hard-closing salesperson.
5) “If we throw in [freebie], would that convince you to
sign the contract today?”
Clearly, this closing technique isn’t appropriate for every situation (it’s called
“selling,” after all, not “giving away”). But for important or very large deals,
offering an exclusive or time-sensitive add-on to sweeten the pot might be a
smart move. Price discounts could also make sense in competitive markets.
However, it’s up to management whether they empower reps to make discount
or freebie offers on their own.

6) “Taking all of your requirements and desires into

consideration, I think these two products would work
best for you. Would you like to go with [X] or [Y]?”
The rationale behind giving two alternatives is that the prospect will be more
inclined to choose one than turn both away (a third option that’s been discreetly
taken off the table). The rep thus increases their chances of hearing a “yes” to
something rather than a “no” to everything.

7) “I’d hate to see [negative consequence] befall your

company because you didn’t have the right product in
place. Do you want to take the crucial step to
protecting your organization today?”
Fear is a powerful motivator. This closing tactic is most effective in situations
where the consequences of not buying will actually harm the business, instead
of simply allowing the status quo to continue. It’s best to pair this line with
external factors, such as new legislation or economic conditions, which
prospects can’t control.

8) "Why don't you give it/us a try?"

It sounds so simple, doesn't it? The disarming and unassuming quality of this
question is precisely why sales expert Brian Tracy recommends it. Phrasing the
decision as "giving the product a chance" instead of "making a commitment"
downplays the risk and ramps up the rapport.
9) "If you sign the contract today, I can guarantee we
can do [special request the buyer asked for]. How
does that sound?"
Similar to #2, but with one important caveat. The closing question in #2
assumes that the salesperson will resolve a prospect objection beforethey sign
the contract. This closing technique-- called a "rebound close" -- promises that
the rep will grant a special request after the prospect provides their John
Hancock. This critical change in the closing timeframe reflects the difference
between a deal-killing objection (that other vendors might be able to address)
and a special favor (that other vendors will likely be similarly hesitant to grant).
10) "I know you said you need to have a solution in
place by [date]. Working backward from that day and
factoring in implementation and training time, it looks
like we'd need to have a signed contract by [date] in
order to meet that deadline. Can you commit to that
signing date?"
If you know the prospect has a firm deadline they need to stick to, use it to
crank up the urgency. And since you're using the prospect's deadline instead of
pulling one out of thin air, this type of reminder-slash-closing line actually helps
the buyer instead of unduly pressuring them.

11) "Will you commit to doing business with us

today?"
Ah, the old direct ask. Sometimes the simplest closing technique can be best,
but other times it can come off as presumptive or pushy. A salesperson has to
have a firm command of the situation and a high level of familiarity with their
buyer to use this closing line successfully.
12) “Ready to move forward? I can send over the
contract right now.”
Everyone likes the idea of progress. If prospects associate the purchase with
forward momentum, they’ll be likelier to commit. This closing line also reduces
the friction of buying -- the contract is already ready, so all they need to do is
sign.

13) “You’re interested in X and Y features, right? If we

get started today, you’ll be up and running by [date].”
Salespeople can encourage their prospects to make a decision by reminding
them the sooner they act, the sooner they’ll have their new system. Mentioning
specific parts of the product doesn’t hurt, either -- buyers will immediately start
picturing how much easier their life will be with the new solution.

14) "What happens next?"

According to sales expert Mike Brooks, "Whenever your prospect begins stalling or
providing any other excuse for not acting today, you simply reply with (these)
three words." It might seem crazy to put your prospect in the driver's seat like
this -- but something's preventing them from buying, and you need to figure it
out if you want any shot of getting their business.

How to Close a Sale

Want a more assertive approach? Try these closing
lines.
1) “Unless you have any more questions or concerns,
I think we're ready to get started.”
You're leaving the door open for them to get more information while making it
clear where you stand. If you've done your job surfacing and resolving
objections throughout the sales process, the buyer will answer with something
like, "No, I'm good. I think we're ready too."
2)"Let's discuss pricing."
With this statement, you transition the conversation from general, abstract
topics like ROI and product features into the actual agreement. It's not a very
subtle shift, but it works.

3) "Tell me your thoughts."

To gauge how ready your prospect is, say this. If they're looking for the
metaphorical pen to sign on the dotted line, they'll usually say so. If they're still
unsure, you'll hear some hemming and hawing. This gives you the chance to
figure out what's holding them back without trying to close too soon.

4) "We can take as long as you'd like, but I know

[you've got another meeting at X time, this call is
scheduled to wrap up in Y minutes]. With that in mind,
maybe we should move to the actual agreement."
While you don't want to rush your prospect too much, reminding them of the
ticking clock gives you a good reason to bring up pricing. Notice this response
is framed around their schedule. If they want to continue the conversation
you're currently having, you can offer to arrange another meeting.