Did you just do a double take? Stop closing sales…isn’t that counter-productive to our sales success?
You heard me right. Salespeople should not be attempting to “close” sales with clients.
It’s all in the definition. Closing is something you do to a person. While it may just be a term, the language is completely one-sided. It implies that you are going entirely for the win regardless of what’s right for the customer.
Salespeople who approach prospects with this kind of self-benefiting mentality are almost never successful in their long-term endeavors. Depending on their abilities and experience, they may, in fact, convince the prospect to do business with them, but long-term, mutually beneficial relationships are rarely ever fostered. This breed of selling creates the “pushy” and “aggressive” stigma that clouds our entire industry. It puts everyone, including well-wishing, value-focused salespeople at a clear disadvantage with prospects.
You want to instill a win-win mindset in your team. Your business hasn’t truly won unless your clients are gaining incredible value by working with you.
Sales closing techniques that have amusing terms or names are often methods that you should not be using. For example:
1) The Puppy Dog Close
2) The Negative Reverse
3) The Silent Treatment
These methods of acquiring new business sound fun and alluring to use, but they are not putting the buyer’s interest first.
Consider switching up the language. Instead of using the word close to define successful business acquisitions, try using words like “facilitate.”
When you think about facilitating a buying decision, your mindset switches from a winner to a peer of the buyer.
The goal of a peer is to work with a client to reach a mutually agreeable and benefiting outcome. This method forces you to put value at the top of your priority list.
Think about the word itself. “Facilitation” means asking questions and working with someone to come to a reasonable solution. Therefore, a salesperson who “facilitates” is one who asks meaningful questions related to benefiting the client and enters discussions with everyone’s interests in mind. Acquiring this type of business puts you at a better chance of creating business for life.
Remember, the idea behind changing your definition of success isn’t simply switching words in the dictionary. It’s about approaching prospects with a completely different mindset than many salespeople possess.
The goal is to ascend beyond just a salesperson and to instead become a valuable business relationship that puts the interests of the client first. ← Click To Tweet
What’s another method of ensuring that you provide value for your customers?
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