When it comes to selling, there is one thing I always tell people, nothing matters until you close a sale.
Selling can be one of the most satisfying yet challenging professions, especially if you don’t know what you are doing. Yet, day by day, I meet entrepreneurs who cry about not achieving their revenue targets.
The challenge, however, is that when I further question the entrepreneurs on why they think they are not achieving their revenue goals or targets, they shift the blame to the bad economy or other external factors.
Upon further introspection, I then realize that it’s all sales. A lot of people can prospect for clients and do follow up. The challenge, however, is on the closing.
Closing sales is one of the most difficult and challenging things to do.
Why, you may ask? The answer is simple; closing is different from selling.
When you close a sale, you are bringing an often-long process to a conclusion. That’s why I say that closing is different from selling; it affects every other area of your life.
Think of the last time you and your spouse were planning to go for a family vacation, and you had different locations in mind with regards to where to go. What happened? Did you end up going to the place you suggested or the one your spouse suggested?
If you went to the place you suggested, then you successfully closed your spouse on the choice for the vacation location; The opposite is true if you ended up choosing your spouse’s location.
Such is the importance of closing. We are always closing people on something each and every day.
Closing in selling happens when you reach a point called the Critical Exchange Point where your customer exchanges something they have for something you have. If you sell tyres, for example, this is when your customer gives you money in exchange for a certain tyre they need for their car.
As long as there is no exchange, then is no action, and as long as there is no action, then there is no close.
I remember last week, I was speaking to one of my clients who was experiencing overwhelm due to the number of people who were coming in needing his service. This client was sceptical about pushing for the close and for the clients to pay as he was afraid that too many clients would negatively impact his customer service. I disagreed.
Think about this for a moment; you can’t service a customer you have not yet closed. To service your customers, you have to close them on your product or service first, which is why I say closing is the most important activity if you want to be of service.
Why Do Customers Buy?
Customers buy when they see the potential for a winner’s exchange when the value of the product or service you are giving them exceeds the money they are going to pay for it. When you sell a product for $500, a customer will only give you their $500 if the value they will receive from the product you are selling them is greater than the $500 they are paying for it.
What this means is that your goal throughout the closing process is to make customers realize that the value of what you are giving them is more than the price they will pay for it.
If you fail to do this, then you are going to find it very difficult to close sales.
