Sales skills: 5 ways to close the sale

Closing the sale. It’s the most integral and most difficult part of the sales process. There are a few natural salespeople in the world who seem to have inherited a god-given gift that enables them to close sales with ease, and never seem to struggle with their targets. For the rest of us, securing a deal requires more work. Here are 5 ways to close a sale.

Ask for the order

It has been estimated that 7 presentations out of 10 end without the salesperson asking for the order. Of the 3 salespeople who do ask for the order, 2 give up after the second refusal. Having presented to your customer in a professional way, you have the right to ask for the order and the customer expects you to do so. This technique alone will improve your sales results and give you more confidence in the selling situation.

The Assumptive Close

By assuming that the order is being placed you can remove the responsibility for decision making away from the buyer. This uses the buyer’s natural inertia. The assumptive close uses words like ‘will’ and ‘when’. Try ‘When will be the best time to deliver?’, ‘Will 4 units be sufficient to meet your requirements?’ ‘When would you like to sign?’

The Alternative Close

This close gives the buyer the choice between 2 alternatives, both of which have been chosen by you. Do you require delivery Tuesday or will next week be more convenient? Will you take the option of alloy wheels or do you prefer central locking? Would you prefer the green or the red?

Closing on a small issue

Often, the buyer finds it easier to make small decisions than large ones. However, having made the smaller decision the larger one becomes easier to make. Choose a minor feature of your product and gain agreement from the buyer on that feature. Delivery can be made on a weekly basis. Does that meet your requirements? We can arrange for the colours to match your company logo. Would that be what you are looking for? If storage is a problem we can arrange for a split delivery at no extra cost. How does that sound?

The Pressure Close

This enables you to put pressure on the buyer in terms of special offers or inducements that are available or penalties for not placing the order. This price is only available up until the end of the month. If you order the smaller quantity the higher price will apply. We are giving a free mobile phone with orders of 500 units and above. This offer ends tomorrow.

These are just 5 ways to seal the deal for more on how to smash your sales goals, check out our eBook Closing the Sale here.