It’s a given and agreed-upon fact that sales are basically a numbers game. The sales professional who is good at overcoming sales objections will close more sales. However, what exactly do we mean by perfecting the sales close? This is a learned and trainable skill, but it’s also very important to understand the theory and philosophy behind closing sales and handling sales objections.
This is a game of no’s. The truth of the matter is, the more no’s you get, the more sales you will successfully close. Getting more no’s means that you’re presenting to more and more people. Perseverance is really the keystone to successful selling. It’s so very easy to start taking the rejections, personally and letting them beat you down. No one likes to be told no. However, it is extremely important to realize and remember that the customer is not rejecting the salesperson, but rather they are rejecting, for whatever reason or reasons they may have, the product being offered. It is the job of the sales professional to discover and isolate the customer’s concern, and address that so that the customer is comfortable with making a positive buying decision.
Hearing the no’s is really a tool for finding out what is going on in the customer’s head, and how they are perceiving the product and presentation. Nothing is more frustrating than being dismissed by a customer, and not knowing why they opted not to move ahead with the sale. Not knowing deprives the salesperson of any ammunition to handle a possible misunderstanding or lack of information on the part of the customer.
I’ve found that when I am with a customer who is more than normally quiet, I ask more probing questions, to see if this person is still with me and is still agreeing with what is being said and shown. This can go as far as asking the customer to tell you how a particular product or feature that you just described can help them. This technique not only checks to see if your customer is still listening and is on your side, but it also helps reinforce the positive points of the product by having your prospect sell themselves.
Always use questions to spotlight possible concerns that your prospect may be thinking before they have a chance to become full-blown objections. The more concerns you head off, during your presentation, the fewer objections you will encounter at the close. It’s always much more preferable to have to deal with only one objection than a list of them, which makes the customer feel they are justified in not taking any action, at this time.
Remember…the more people you talk to, the more opportunities you will have for a sale. The more you ask questions, the less chance you will have for experiencing multiple objections at the close. Always keep in mind, when closing, the first five no’s don’t really count. Just acknowledge them, handle them, and re-close. If, however, you are finding you are getting consistently more than five no’s, you may want to re-examine your presentation and your skill at qualifying your customer.
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