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Closing Techniques In Sales – B2B Selling

Techniques

October 22, 2013 by Iain Swanston – www.iainswanstononline.com

Closing Techniques in Sales are always in demand by Sales

Teams looking for ways to increase their performance. The most

common mistake we see however, is that Sales Teams are trying

to close opportunities that are not yet ready for closing. What’s

worse, is that more often than not, by trying to close an

opportunity that is not ready, sales people can very often lose the

opportunity completely. There is a balance to be struck between

the timid “never ask for the order” sales person and the blunt

force “Always be closing” approach. To optimize your

opportunities, and choose the perfect time to use those Closing

Techniques in Sales, you can follow these 7 simple steps, to determine for yourself when a

prospect is ready for closing.

Rather than rushing to the Presentation stage of the sales process, if sales people were to

spend more time accurately diagnosing the root cause of the problems, the business and

personal impact of the problems, buyers would be much more likely to want to move forward

with a sales professional proficient at this, than anyone using Closing Techniques in Sales.

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WITH REGARDS TO THE GAP – The gap is the difference between where the buyer is

right now and their desired state in the future.

1) Has the buyer verbally acknowledged the existence of a gap between where they are

now and where they need to be?

2) Has the buyer verbally acknowledged the symptoms caused by the Gap?

3) Has the buyer verbally agreed with your joint Root Cause Analysis?

4) Has the buyer verbally acknowledged the impact on their business of this Gap?

5) Has the buyer verbally committed to eliminating the Gap?

6) Has the buyer quantified the cost of the Gap?

7) Has the buyer verbally stated the emotional reasons for closing the Gap?

This form of GAP ANALYSIS obviously requires great product knowledge, experience and

Consultative Selling Skills.

You will notice we use the phrase “verbally acknowledge” often. In our experience, most

sales people fail to clarify exactly what is important to the buyer and what is being said by the

buyer, versus what they are hearing. Optimism, enthusiasm, desperation, assumptions and

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simple inattention to detail, all serve to cloud the hearing of sales people. Unless the words

come from the buyers’ lips, the sales person needs to confirm everything.

By teaching sales people this step by step process, you will find that buyers actually start to

give the sales people the order, before the sales person has to ask for it. The best sales people

simply facilitate the right conditions for the buyer to buy. In addition you will find this

process easier to teach than closing techniques, as it will not conflict with any negative

paradigms the sales person has, and buyers are much more comfortable with this process.

Whilst we strongly advocate you follow the seven step process to allow the buyer to

buy, this does not mean you never use Closing Sales Techniques or never ask for the

order. If the sales person has walked the buyer through the seven steps, they have every right

to ask for the order and indeed should do so.

The great thing about this process is the flexibility in terms of the time taken to go through

the seven steps. For smaller, less complex transactional sales it might only make sense to be

taking a light touch, on each of the seven areas over a 15 minute conversation. For complex

Solution Selling with multiple decision makers and influencers, you can drill down into each

of the areas in real detail. Remember if you want to speed the sale up, slow the sale down to

make sure you cover all the bases.

Remember the best Sales Professionals do not need to use Closing Techniques in Sales, as

their buyers close the sale on themselves. Once you master this, you will find selling is

much easier, and a much more enjoyable process for your sales team and your buyers.

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