---

Guest post by: Wendy Weiss Become an Author

Tweet

---

---

1. If you are giving a sales presentation, make sure to only give that presentation after you thoroughly understand your prospect's specific problem and motivation to solve that problem.

2. Ask the Magic Question: "After our conversation (discussion/you see our presentation...) if you see that our product/service is a perfect fit for you, what would happen next?" Any answer other than the prospect would be ready to move forward means that you have more work to do to close the sale.

3. Be relevant. The more relevant you are to your prospect, the greater will be their interest in your product/service. Conversely the less relevant you are, the less will be their interest. There is a direct correlation, so only present those aspects of your products/services that are relevant to your prospect's specific challenge. Generic does not work.

4. Ask for the sale. One of the biggest reasons that sales professionals do not close sales is that they never ask. Determine how you are going to ask for the sale, practice out loud and when the time is right, ask your prospect for that sale.

5. Closing questions are a great way to ask for the sale. Ask your prospect:

"Are you ready to get started?"

"When would you like to get started?"

"Shall I draw up a contract?"

"Should we go ahead and finalize the details?"

"Which plan do you want to go with?"

"Do you want plan A or plan B?"

6. Shut up. Once you have asked for the business be quiet. Let the prospect think and decide how they want to proceed. Too many sales professionals keep talking and thus blow the opportunity to close their sale.

7. Gain commitment to the next step. If you need to have further meetings or additional phone calls, schedule them now. If you are faxing or emailing a contract or letter of agreement, schedule time either face-to-face or on the telephone, to go over the agreement with your prospect.

8. Summarize what you have discussed. Whether or not you've closed the sale, write down the main points of the meeting, what you discussed, what you've agreed upon points and any action steps that need to be taken. Email or snail-mail this to your prospect. This document will help the prospect remember what was discussed and what they've agreed to. It will also help you if you need to have future meetings or conversations with this prospect.

9. Once you have closed, do everything that you have agreed to do for this new customer. Make sure they get what they've purchased when they expect it, in the manner that they expect it with no problems and/or surprises. Happy customers buy more and give you referrals.

Related Articles

  The Close
  The 5 “Secrets” of closing the sale
  Top 7 Steps to Increase Article Writing Speed if Internet Marketing Is A Key Marketing Strategy
  QuickBooks 2011: Improvement to Closing Date Functionality
  Closing Sales Skills --- Improve Your Sales Techniques
  “Seven Strategic Tips For Selling Professional Services Brand, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”
  Closing - No Tricks Required
  CLOSING THE SALE - IT'S HIGHLY OVERRATED
  Present Like a Rock Star
  It Doesn't Matter How Many Leads You Have! If You Don't... ~ 20K+ A MONTH SECRET
  136 Effective Presentation Tips by Tony Jeary and David Cottrell
  List Your Wants
  Closing Techniques Are Bogus
  A \"Closing Sript\" Is A Sales Myth
  How to Practice your Closing Sales Skills
  Why You Should be Scared When Your Salespeople are Closing Lots of Business
  The Ultimate “Closing Technique”
  Closing with Ease
  5 Tips to Turn Prospects Into Clients
  Sure-Fire Techniques for Closing Sales

Related Forum Posts

Business Tips
Re: NEW VIDEO - Entrepreneur Ideas - Webinar - (4 of 5) Getting
My entry
Business Coaching Internship Review
We need a call center or individual to perform B2B / B2C ope

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

PR: Take It In Your Own Hands Or Hand It Over?

Leading with Discernment

A Definition of Coaching

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.