3 Steps to Close the Sale (Every Time!)

Are you successful at closing the sale every time?

If you are, you’re either a superstar or possibly undervaluing whatever it is you sell.

For the sales professionals I coach, it would seem that the average closing rate is around 75%, depending on the industry.

The question is, how can we increase our closing rate?

Sure, it may be impossible to close every deal, but if we can increase our closing rate even marginally, it can have a dramatic effect.

This was the task in front of many sales professionals pre-pandemic.

But then everything changed.

Not only were our closing rates impacted, but so was our ability to prospect.

Typical routines like dropping by to visit a prospect or taking a customer for lunch were suddenly no longer possible.

You could always jump on the phone, but with so many buyers working from home, even connecting on the phone was difficult.

Fortunately, there are some fundamentals that seem to stand the test of time.

Even when faced with a pandemic.

Although much of what we thought we knew about selling seems to have changed, it hasn’t.

We just need to view these strategies in a new light.

Steps to Close the Sale

Before you scroll down any further, I want to challenge you.

If you are new to selling, some of this may seem like textbook stuff, and it is. But how many times have you lost a sale as a result of missing one of these key points?

Alternatively, if you are senior to selling, my question would be, are you truly practicing the fundamentals, or riding on the wave of business you’ve built over the years?

There are 3 key steps that have the greatest impact on our closing ratios:

1. You must know who the decision-maker is.

Early in my career, I worked with plenty of small businesses. What I learned is that in a family business, although there may be a president who appears to be the buyer, they can be heavily influenced by other family members.

After a fruitful discussion with the president, I would always ask who else should be part of our discussions. Invariably, the response to this question would allow me to ensure the decision-makers were involved early on.

More often than not, other family members were direct influencers of the president’s decisions.

Ask yourself, is this the real decision-maker? If not, how can I connect with the others and bring them into this conversation?

2. You need to uncover how decision-making works.

Once you know who all of the decision-makers and influencers are, how does the decision-making process actually work?

In some circumstances, there is a sole decision-maker who will determine the fate of any spending. In other situations, there is a collaborative team approach.

Either way, understanding quickly how the decision-making occurs at your prospect’s company is key to identifying which direction you should take with your hybrid selling approach.

You can figure this out pretty quickly by asking questions like:

“Can you help me understand how the decision-making process works around here?”

OR

“If we came to an agreement today, what would be the next steps for formalizing this decision and moving forward?”

3. Don’t let others distract you from what matters.

It’s so easy to get distracted or thrown off our game.

Particularly when working with organizations in which there are multiple decision-makers or a convoluted process for making decisions.

Once you uncover how decision-making works, and who you need to influence, stay focused on them.

Always be clear on the next step and move towards it.

If someone tries to send you off in another direction, make sure you obtain their agreement to return and discuss what you’ve learned with them.

Don’t let anyone shake you off the path to the sale.

Closing Starts and Ends with the Decision-Maker

There are other factors that can (and will!) influence our ability to close the sale.

But losing connection with the decision-maker or getting mired down in a convoluted process is by far the greatest challenge we have in closing the deal quickly.

To ramp up your closing ratio, always ask yourself these three questions to stay on the right path:

1. Am I dealing with the decision-maker right now?
2. What is the next step I need to take to move this decision forward?
3. How can I speed up this process to move to the close (and move on to the next sale)?

Having a direction and reminding yourself of these three questions continuously will keep you in the hunt, and on track to increase your closing ratio.