Four Tips to Achieve Successful Close Rates

Every path to a successful close is a little different. You might find key phrases, gestures, and examples that most prospects find persuasive, but each sales call presents unique opportunities and challenges.

We frequently run mock-sales and prospect-scenario drills with our sales team to control and improve our close ratio and sales income. Here are four of the most common pitfalls and solutions we review.

Pitfall 1: Launching into a sales pitch.
Salespeople frequently go right into their pitch and do entirely too much talking. Instead, they need to fully acknowledge the prospect and express genuine care and interest.

We drill our sales reps on showing their interest in the prospect and his or her company. To make the drill authentic, give reps information about the prospect company so they have relevant questions to ask. (Your team should be researching prospects on social media to uncover anything that might spark initial communication.)

Pitfall 2: Lack of confidence.
When salespeople are not completely sold on their own product or service, you can hear it in their voice and manner. A very confident salesperson does not hesitate or stumble while speaking. This is a common challenge for underperforming reps who have been disappointed by rejection. Their lack of closed deals has lowered their morale and reduced their confidence – which continues to reduce their ability to sell and close business.

We drill to work out that uncertainty. This can be done by getting the salesperson to list thoughts, concerns, or ideas about the product or service. From there, we ask the mock prospect to simply ask those same questions. Give reps a training packet, product description, or online demo on a mobile device to help them educate the prospect.

Pitfall 3: Incorrect sequence.
When reps neglect sales-process sequence, the sale can become stuck or take a huge amount of time and effort to close. We’ve consistently found that when the correct sequence is followed, we close a higher percentage of business. To identify the correct steps, you simply need to run through your own sales process step-by-step to note the flow. You can review the past 10 sales or so to identify each and every step.

For example, the process might start with an email or phone call from the prospect. It would then move through the following sequence: rr

• • discovery phone call or meeting;

• • proposal sent for review;

• • proposal review call or meeting;

• • salesperson’s handling of the prospect’s concerns, questions, or objections;

• • salesperson’s asking for the sale in some way;

• • closing.

We have the exact steps listed on a chart and in our CRM, as well. This helps reps focus on pushing to the next step.

Pitfall 4: Forgetting to ask.
Asking for the sale is critical. It sounds fantastically simple, but many reps simply never ask. So we work with our sales reps until they make it a habit to ask in many different ways for the close.

For example, the salesperson may say, “It sounds like we have everything you need here, so let’s get this started.” Then the prospect might reply with, “Actually, we are looking at doing it next week.” So the salesperson will need to ask again in a different way, such as, “I completely understand. Here’s why it makes sense this week…” It may take three or more rounds like this to get the sale closed.

It’s hard for salespeople to spot what’s causing low close numbers. Identifying the problem is key; then you can also identify the solution and drill your reps on the practices that will increase their ability to close.