Definition: Closing Sales

Closing the sale or gaining the commitment is part of the sale process. However, many sales professionals to service professionals view closing more as a singularity instead of a process. This results in the less sales and more frustration. Sound familiar?

nn

Yes, there are specific skill sets required when dealing with this step in the sales process - closing or gaining commitment. However these skills should be used in conjunction with the other sales skills and aligned to the overall sales process.

nn

The key word here is sales process. When a sales person utilizes a proven sales process that takes him or her through the buying/selling process, then closing is really a sub set skill and not the most critical skill.

nn

Unfortunately, many in sales forget the most critical skills - developing a relationship. When you have a relationship with someone and you have taken the time to understand that person, you will be actually making soft closes or trial closes during the entire sales process.

nn

A solid relationship should exist before you even try to sell anyone anything. People buy from people then and only then do they buy the products or services. Yes with the Internet there are some exceptions to this and there are exceptions to many rules. However for most individuals, they buy from other individuals especially when that product or service is critical to their business or their own personal life.

nn

If you as a sales person have taken the time to:

nn

n
• Accurately fact find and truly dig for those unstated needs
n
• Educate the buyer specific to those needs and how your product or service meets those needs
n
• Demonstrate your subject matter expertise with confidence and clarity of purpose
n
• Be authentic
n
• Separate the stalls from the objections
n
• Overcome any objections that arise
n

n

Then closing is simply a matter of asking: Where do we go from here?

n