Its no secret that todays volatile economic conditions have led to longer deal cycles. Buyers continue to tighten their purse strings; more and more stakeholders are involved; invisible threats from competitors mount; and decisions fall on the shoulders of finance and procurement teams.
Sellers struggle to effectively and consistently overcome these various challenges, and the vast majority will admit that winning deals is harder than ever. Each deal is unique, which often makes it difficult for sales reps to choose the technique that will help carry them across the finish line.
Here, well take a close look at 6 of the best sales closing techniques, including when and why they work, their key advantages, and what tools sellers will need for successful execution.
Sales closing is much more than simply signing on the dotted line or collecting payment for a product or service. For B2B sales organizations in particular, sales closing is the strategic stage of the sales cycle wherein the customer agrees to the proposed (and often heavily-negotiated) deal terms and signs a contract.
Its important to note that what happens in the stages leading up to sales closing are crucial to its outcome. Theoretically, sales closing should be a breeze, since each completed step and activity leading up to this particular task demonstrates the prospects interest in becoming an official buyer. After all their hard work and dedication throughout the previous cycle stages, sellers should be properly poised to close the sale.
But, in reality, sellers often inadvertently mishandle the sales closing stage and fumble the deal in the eleventh hour. Again, this is especially true for B2B sales teams, who must get that final green light from, on average, 6 to 10 decision-makers.
Luckily, by leveraging the right technique at just the right time, sellers can nail the sales closing stage. Rather than taking an aimless or overly-pushy approach to sales closing, salespeople who have effective tactics in their back pockets can consistently close more deals at a faster pace.
Choosing the proper sales closing technique (based on the deal and customer type, specific buyer objections, prospect goals, etc.) can benefit sellers in several key ways:
Even when the odds are in a sellers favor, these major common challenges can throw a serious wrench in closing the sale:
The sales closing stage doesn't have to feel arduous or never-ending. Here are six traditional closing techniques to consider:
The puppy dog close tactic is built off the belief that, if given a puppy to take home as a trial run, most people would end up keeping the puppy; a theory thats grounded in reality, apparently, as 68% of surveyed pet foster families end up permanently adopting the pet.
With the puppy dog close, sellers allow prospects to try before they buy, usually through a free trial. This method is great for prospects who are on the fence about how your company's product or service will impact their day-to-day operations. If they can see firsthand just how much your solution impacts their productivity, efficiency, profitability, collaboration, or another objective, then they'll be more likely to pull the trigger at the end of the free trial.
Sometimes, a prospect is truly interested in your product or service, but doesn't feel a sense of urgency to make the purchase. The scarcity close tactic leans on the findings of a psychological study conducted by Stephen Worchel in 1975. The study revolved around placing many cookies in one jar, then only two cookies in another jar right next to the first. Though the cookies were all identical, the subjects preferred those from the jar that only held two.
The principle remains the same in sales, as customers tend to prefer items that are in high demand or aren't readily available to the masses either in reality or by their perception. Sellers can take advantage of this technique by offering a discounted price for products and services for only a limited time, or by offering an add-on with a clear expiration date.
Its worth noting that the scarcity close only works if the prospect truly believes the product or service is scarce; so dont offer the same sweet, urgent deal multiple times and expect them to jump. Todays buyers are smart and can smell a bogus, scammy promotion from a mile away, so make sure you take an authentic approach to the scarcity close.
This technique centers around the idea that humans dont like to have something taken away, and that their desire for the now unavailable option will grow. Its the exact reason why pretending to eat a toddlers broccoli off their plate often provokes their own, newfound interest in the vegetable.
This technique is best for prospects who are a great fit for your product or service and have shown a high level of interest, but are hesitant to make the monetary investment. Sellers can nudge them forward by simply stating that they might not be a great fit for the solution after all, given their expected spend. Its a bit of reverse psychology that can spur the prospect to bolster their budget.
The assumptive close can be incredibly useful for more seasoned sellers who have a deep understanding of your company's offerings and a knack for reading buyers social and emotional cues. With this tactic, salespeople assume the prospect wants to make a purchase, and proceeds as though they've already made the decision. They may ask the buyer to schedule an implementation date or whether they want to purchase additional add-ons or features.
While positive thinking and an upbeat, assertive attitude are a great foundation for this technique, its a risky approach without the right tools. If a seller misreads a prospects interest level, their assumptions can be perceived as aggressive and cause them to lose the deal altogether.
Some modern sales execution platforms take the guesswork out of the equation with buyer sentiment analysis, which can help sellers more accurately understand how theyre resonating with buyers. These powerful tools offer deep insights into responses whether positive, negative, objection, or referral into each engagement and help salespeople determine the appropriate next steps, depending on context.
Negotiations are pretty much a given when it comes to B2B sales, so sellers should always be well-prepared to handle objections at the closing stage. One effective way to get ahead of these objections is to ask prospects the right questions (and lots of them) throughout the entire sales cycle, and actively listen to their responses. This enables salespeople to carefully craft their responses and rebuttals ahead of time.
Once closing time comes around, asking strategic questions can instill confidence in the buyer and squelch their doubt. If you put yourself in the buyers shoes, youd likely feel more positive about the deal if, instead of pushing you to sign the contract, the seller asked you some of the following questions:
Sales cycles are often long and arduous, and require a lot of time and effort from both the seller and the buyer. By the time they reach sales closing, one or both parties have hopefully completed several tasks and answered myriad questions; but those details tend to get lost in the shuffle if not properly documented.
The summary close relies on using a detailed, shared record of virtually everything that happens throughout the sales process to accomplish two main goals:
This technique is best for organizations that use powerful software with features for centralized collaboration throughout the entire deal lifecycle. Some tools offer mutual action plans (MAPs), which enable sellers and customers to outline, access, and update crucial steps, milestones, and deadlines in real-time. Then, sellers can review and summarize these MAPs with customers during the sales closing stage, so there are never any surprises. This total alignment brings clarity and certainty to expedite deal closure.
While tried-and-true sales closing techniques are a great place to start, sellers will likely still struggle to consistently push deals past the homestretch if theyre using manual or disparate sales tools. Outdated, disjointed point solutions create data silos and workflow gaps that hinder sellers productivity and sales closing efficacy.
The Outreach Sales Execution platform boosts sellers efficiency across the entire sales cycle, and empowers them to predictably and consistently close more deals. With workflows for sales engagement, mutual action plans, pipeline management, forecasting, and more, Outreach can help sales teams accelerate deal velocity and increase pipeline conversion.
Learn more about how to improve your sales teams win rates, or request a demo today.