Any Top Closer will tell you that the secret to closing sales is in getting your prospect to disclose to you whether or not they are going to be a sale and getting them to tell you what you must do or say to close the deal. The reason this is key is because only your prospect knows what it will take for them to buy your product or solution, or even if they have the authority, budget, or if they are in the mood, if they like you, if they need it enough, and many other reasons. Again, only they know what it will take for you to get their business. This is the great secret all Top Closers know.
Unfortunately, 80 to 90% of sales reps don’t understand this. Because of this, they continue to pitch at prospects, push their material onto them and then hound and beg them to do business with them. This is why most sales reps hate sales and why most prospects hate sales reps. If you find yourself (or the majority of your sales team) in this position, then I’m going to share three words with you that will get your prospect to reveal their true buying motives (and why they might not be buying from you as well.)
Because the key to closing sales is to get your prospect to disclose what it’s going to take to close the deal, you’ve obviously got to find ways to get them to open up and start talking. I’ve written many scripts and techniques to show you how to do this, but today I’m going to share with you three simple words you can use to get and keep your prospects talking.
Here it is: Whenever your prospect begins stalling or any other excuse for not acting today, you simply reply: “What happens next?”
Now before 80% of you dismiss this – while the other 20% nod your head with wisdom – try it and hit your mute button. I guarantee that you’ll learn more in what they say next than you would if you just kept talking and pitching…
Here are some other things to say to follow up on what they might disclose to you:
“How does that process work?”
“How involved in that are you?”
“What would you like to see happen here?”
“When does a decision on this need to be made?”
“If you had to move on something today, what would you do?”
“Out of everything you’ve seen from other companies, what do you think?”
“What’s the biggest thing you can see that is standing in the way?”
I guarantee that if you ask all of the above questions to a prospect – and truly listen to what they tell you – you’ll know whether or not they are going to be a deal.
There are lots of other techniques you can use, and if you haven’t invested in my Best Selling book: “The Ultimate Book of Phone Scripts” then you should do so now. You’ll get over 220 other proven tips, scripts and techniques just like this to turn you into a Top Closer as well.
I encourage you to use some of the techniques above to get your prospect talking (and to get you to shut up and listen). If you get good at this you’ll be amazed by how much more successful you’ll be.