Advice for Closing
The environment I work in allows for a short sales cycle...I mean very short. A decision could be made in the first call....even for a 60,000 investment a decision rarely takes longer then a single week. This environment allows for something very powerful to happen--Mentally, you walk in to work every single day with a real opportunity to close business.
About two years ago, I sat down with our Canadian COO. At that time, he was running the most successful sales office in the world, which means he was beating out about 40 other highly-trained, highly-driven sales teams. I asked him, if he had to choose one single thing that he felt was paramount to his Group's success, what would it be. Naturally, I assumed it would be hiring the right people, great products, his own leadership, etc. What he did reply was: Morning Motivational Meetings.
I LOVED the idea and brought it back to my Chicago office immediately. I was already creating and facilitating most New Hire and Continuous training and saw these morning meetings as a way to group the entire division by sharing knowledge and excitement each morning. It has been a tremendous triumph but, as you might imagine, after 500 meetings you really have to strive to present new content. SO, this morning I simply led a round table discussion and I asked: IF YOU NEED TO CLOSE A DEAL TODAY, WHAT IS YOUR BEST TECHNIQUE TO ENSURE A CLOSE?
We got a ton of amazing answers, pieces of insight and advice, and a few inspiration comments. There was definitely a trend in the techniques that were offered. Three key things stuck out to me and I would like to share them with you:
I know I have fallen into the trap of going through the motions and hoping that deals will just fall out of the sky. I am sure that many of you have hit that rut as well and I am sure you reached the same reality...deals do not fall out of the sky. If we want to close deals, we need to prepare ourselves to have that chance.
I know many of you probably do this sort of research for every lead you call, but do you really dig deep? Do you make sure that you have the most current and pertinent information for a select group of target leads or do you just generally know something about the company, vertical, person for a ton of generic leads? Being hyper specific allows you to build rapport, stroke egos, ask better questions, and will absolutely lead--more quickly--to the close.
1. Pick an anthem or a song of the day. Listen to it and pump yourself up in the morning and then whenever you need a boost during the day--take a short break and put your headphones back in. Nobody will care if you dance by yourself a little bit!
2. Find something that you identify with and learn more about it. Find that personal connection to what you are selling and who you are selling to. The more you believe--the more excited you will be to talk about it.
3. Try a new sales technique. Maybe what you are doing is working fine, but don't stick with the status quo. Take a risk, try something new that you read about--saw someone else do--taught yourself. If it doesn't work it was a small risk. If it does work, it could be a huge gain.
4. New leads. If you are calling the same people again and again with no reply or sign of interest, set those leads aside for a month and call new people. Often your next deal is hiding in those new names and faces!
5. Picture yourself closing a deal. Tell yourself that you will close business today. I know it sounds cheesy, but believe that you can do something and envision it happening--there is a subconscious power that makes these dreams into reality.
About two years ago, I sat down with our Canadian COO. At that time, he was running the most successful sales office in the world, which means he was beating out about 40 other highly-trained, highly-driven sales teams. I asked him, if he had to choose one single thing that he felt was paramount to his Group's success, what would it be. Naturally, I assumed it would be hiring the right people, great products, his own leadership, etc. What he did reply was: Morning Motivational Meetings.
I LOVED the idea and brought it back to my Chicago office immediately. I was already creating and facilitating most New Hire and Continuous training and saw these morning meetings as a way to group the entire division by sharing knowledge and excitement each morning. It has been a tremendous triumph but, as you might imagine, after 500 meetings you really have to strive to present new content. SO, this morning I simply led a round table discussion and I asked: IF YOU NEED TO CLOSE A DEAL TODAY, WHAT IS YOUR BEST TECHNIQUE TO ENSURE A CLOSE?
We got a ton of amazing answers, pieces of insight and advice, and a few inspiration comments. There was definitely a trend in the techniques that were offered. Three key things stuck out to me and I would like to share them with you:
PREPARATION
Nearly every single Sales Executive acknowledged that in order to have a great day in the office, you need to prepare in advance. That is everything from extra research, to creating a to-do list, to mentally envisioning yourself getting a deal, but mostly it was a combination of all of these things and more. If you want to close business, you need to put in the time IN ADVANCE to make that a reality.I know I have fallen into the trap of going through the motions and hoping that deals will just fall out of the sky. I am sure that many of you have hit that rut as well and I am sure you reached the same reality...deals do not fall out of the sky. If we want to close deals, we need to prepare ourselves to have that chance.
HYPER SPECIFIC PITCHES
This was another theme that I heard from a number of Sales Executives. The most successful Executives indicated that they would be a dozen of their best leads that they knew they were going to call first thing in the morning. They would research the most recent news on the company, on the sector, on the area where the company was located, on the person they were going to call, on the competitors of this company, etc.I know many of you probably do this sort of research for every lead you call, but do you really dig deep? Do you make sure that you have the most current and pertinent information for a select group of target leads or do you just generally know something about the company, vertical, person for a ton of generic leads? Being hyper specific allows you to build rapport, stroke egos, ask better questions, and will absolutely lead--more quickly--to the close.
MENTAL ELEMENT. GET EXCITED!
Whatever makes you most excited to be at work and to pick up the phone--figure it out and do it. Below are five of the best tips that were shared this morning were:1. Pick an anthem or a song of the day. Listen to it and pump yourself up in the morning and then whenever you need a boost during the day--take a short break and put your headphones back in. Nobody will care if you dance by yourself a little bit!
2. Find something that you identify with and learn more about it. Find that personal connection to what you are selling and who you are selling to. The more you believe--the more excited you will be to talk about it.
3. Try a new sales technique. Maybe what you are doing is working fine, but don't stick with the status quo. Take a risk, try something new that you read about--saw someone else do--taught yourself. If it doesn't work it was a small risk. If it does work, it could be a huge gain.
4. New leads. If you are calling the same people again and again with no reply or sign of interest, set those leads aside for a month and call new people. Often your next deal is hiding in those new names and faces!
5. Picture yourself closing a deal. Tell yourself that you will close business today. I know it sounds cheesy, but believe that you can do something and envision it happening--there is a subconscious power that makes these dreams into reality.
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