How to Close More Deals, Now!

Every business owner and every sales team wants to close more deals, now. For successful sales people, wining is in their blood but why do most fail? I have worked with so many different sales teams from many different industries and I have seen many tactics that make me cringe.

My favorite…”Chasing the Deal – “the blind RFP – where you don’t have any relationship but procurement sends documents your way because you are on a list… Or the most common mistake I’ve seen – sending the proposal via email and hoping your prospects understands what you are proposing, identifies with your assumptions and miraculously picks you vs. scheduling a time to walk them through it…

So what are some of the ways that you can close deals now and close big contracts? Here are 5 ways to make that happen.

*Make it easy For Your Customers to Decide in Your Favor

Remember that you are not selling the company and the company solutions as much as you are selling the people to deliver and MOST importantly, you are selling to an individual who has self-interest wrapped into this deal. Get to know the right people, those with power in the deal and learn as much about them and their worlds as possible. Find out what their bonuses are based on and use that information to highlight how your product or service will help them meet their goals. You will see a turnaround in your support if you can tie your offering back to them personally.

*Dollarize the Cost of Delaying a Decision

Tony Robbins says that people are more incline to move towards pleasure vs pain. So the same logic tells us that people will do more to avoid a loss than to score a win. Stop focusing on the “value proposition” and all the “benefits” your product has to offer and start focusing in what exactly your prospect will lose in time, reputation, money and quality if they don’t move forward with your solution. What are they losing out on by selecting the other guy?

*Have them Collaborate on the Solution

Too often I see individuals focus on putting elaborate proposals together by themselves without involving a champion. Ironically, if you are the only one working on your proposal, you will be the only one vested in the outcome of the deal. Get your prospect to collaborate with you and provide you direct insight on how you can win the mandate for this deal. Treat them as a consultant and figure out a way to get them vested alongside you. Once they have invested that time, they will be more inclined to move in your favor quicker.

*Give them options

Some business decisions are moving towards being a commodity play. Don’t waste your time competing with low ball competitors. It is never a win -win solution. Try offering options in the way of 3 different proposals, each offering a different level of service and pricing in a way that draws attention to your strengths. If you’re known for your response time, you may give a proposal that guarantees delivery at one price, or offer additional services for a slight premium and dollarize the benefit to them so that the sum of all the value they are getting far exceeds the cost of your product or service.

1. Tap into your influencer network.

Business is based upon relationships. Who knows who in your world? Who can you call who can make a few phone calls and get you into certain deals? Or to obtain information? There is always somebody in every industry who knows everyone and has the ability to network. Consider hiring them or incentivizing them to advise you on next steps. This leaves the impression of independence for your prospects while providing you direct information you need to successfully win the deal.