4 Sales ABCs – ‘Always Be Closing’

by Katie Mead

(This article was originally presented in the wwWebevents.com newsletter)

Every good salesperson (and any of us who’s seen Mamet’s brilliant Glengarry Glen Ross) knows that one of the major keys to success is to ‘always be closing’. Yet despite this, so many of us fail to close – effectively and consistently. So, as a refresher, let’s look at a few common obstacles to the killer close:

1. Fear of ‘Failure’…might as well start at the top. This is the biggie, the thing that prevents more sales than any other, and one of the reasons the end game of selling can be so stressful and difficult. However perhaps surprisingly, it’s not fear on the part of the seller that’s most problematic – first and foremost it’s the fear of failure experienced by the prospect that prevents most sales. Due to negative buying experiences in the past even qualified prospects may be conditioned to being suspicious, skeptical and wary of the best salespeople and sales approaches. It’s not necessarily that they’re afraid to buy; just that they are wary of being ‘sold’. Like all of us, they’re afraid of making a mistake: of paying too much and finding the product or service for sale cheaper somewhere else.
2. Fear of Criticism…another compelling emotional factor: prospects may be afraid of being criticized by others for making ‘the wrong buying decision’.  They may be desperately afraid of buying the wrong thing and finding out later that they should have purchased something else. This fear of ridicule, of making a mistake in buying your product, can be considered the major reason people object to, hesitate and procrastinate on the buying decision.
3. Fear of Rejection…now back to us, the salespeople – another major obstacle to selling is the fear of rejection, of criticism and disapproval experienced by the salesperson. Let’s face it: we work long and hard prospecting and cultivating a potential buyer leaving us pretty reluctant to say anything that might cause the prospect to ‘tune out’ or ‘turn us off’. The amount we’ve invested in each prospect may cause us to be wishy-washy at the end of the sale, or reluctant to ‘force a decision…
4. Customers Are Busy…in our darkest moments, we all fall susceptible to the idea that customers are too busy and preoccupied – and this prevents success at the end of the sale process. It’s not that we feel prospects aren’t interested in enjoying the benefits of our product – just that they are overwhelmed with work and find it difficult to make sufficient time available to think through our recommendations in order to make a buying decision. And the reality? The better they are as a prospect, the busier they seem to be. All the more reason to maintain momentum throughout the sales process and gently push to a conclusion at the appropriate time…

The good news? Everyone buys at the same time…in reality, every prospect you pitch or develop a relationship with has met and bought and new products and services from someone, at some time. And it’s guaranteed that they will buy again. If they haven’t yet bought from you, now’s a great opportunity to ensure that don’t ever buy again from someone else. Understanding the emotional and psychological barriers to closing will help you overcome these obstacles and make the sale. Honing these skills by developing a great close and knowing when to use it, will help guarantee your success as a salesperson – each and every time.

Katie Mead is the Senior Director of Subscription Sales, Artsmarketing Services Inc. – kmead@artsmarketing.com

Related posts:

1. Success In Sales: 7 Examples of ‘What it Takes’ to be a Sales Superstar