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about these 10 skills and where you rank. |
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Closing
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Does your inside sales training consist of “smile and dial” techniques that fail to generate consistent revenues? Has your team participated in field sales training only to find that it didn’t translate into a 7 second phone call or email which must carry impact?
After training thousands of inside sales professionals and managers, we’ve come up with the TeleSmart 10 - Sales Booster Series for generating revenue by phone and email. Our sales methodology has 10 essential skills for telephone effectiveness that actually work. This month, the topic that will put money in your pocket: Closing as this is the key to gaining commitment and generating revenues. |
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What’s getting in the way of closing more business this month? It’s time to get real- take a close look at your pipeline. This closing skill is our reality check and determines the level of commitment we really have in the sales process. Avoid the end of month panic when you watch your deals slip away- don’t beg- it’s time to take control, focus and close some business. Here are the most common challenges and solutions for closing:
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“How can I avoid the end of month closing panic? How can I maintain a strong closing momentum throughout the month?”
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Organize your month by activities you will do early in the month, mid month and end of month so you don’t get frazzled and desperate at the end of month. For example:
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21 days left to the month – update your database, identify top targets and introduce yourself at the highest level, schedule demos, presentations, send quotes out, qualify to uncover pain and compelling events. |
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14 days left to the month – tighten your list, make more calls into target prospects to create a groundswell of influencers, continue to educate, sell value, qualify, sell to needs you’ve uncovered, set appointments. |
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1 day left to the month – focus on your core list, call high, sell value, confirm pains, create urgency and compelling events. |
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“My pipeline needs to get stronger and have a good assortment of opportunities, what can I do to build and strengthen it?”
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You can always tell a good salesperson by how healthy their funnel looks. It takes hard work and focus to build and maintain a strong funnel and yet it can collapse overnight if you are not well positioned in each account. The foundation of a good funnel is strong qualifying efforts and maintaining this consistently. You can find more on this in our Questioning Tips area. A good funnel must have a strong mix of large and small opportunities that are all at varying closing probabilities. Every day, you work your pipeline, the shaper it gets.
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“I’ve been told to always close along the way on the call. How can I do this without scaring the prospect away and losing any chance I have of closing?”
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You’re right, you should always be closing and gaining commitment on each call you make. Always set it up for the next call and hold the prospect accountable for doing something to prepare for your next call. Also, ask a lot of soft and hard trial closing questions throughout the sales process. That means from the beginning in your introduction, to when you quote pricing, to when you have a concall, to when you offer a discount, to when you handle objections. For example:
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Soft trial closing questions to ask early in the sales process: |
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“How does that sound to you?” “How do you understand this?”
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“What is our next step?” |
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“Based on what I’ve share with you, how well do you see this fitting into your short-term requirements? |
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“What do you see taking place from now until then? |
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Hard trial closing questions are asked in the middle to end of cycle: |
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“What is making you hesitate?” |
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“Are you ready to make a decision?” |
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“What do we need to do to get this approved?” |
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“When would you like to move forward on this?” |
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v.
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“Are you ready to get started?” |
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| “Sometimes, I get so excited that I stop listening to whether the deal will really close, what type of buying signals should I be listening for?” |
First, we suggest you download our Closing Criteria Checklist since that is a great map to make sure you are on track. Also, start paying attention as the following buying signals will help you gain your momentum:
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They become more accessible and response time increases by phone, email, blackberry, etc. |
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They make a positive statement about your service. |
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They ask more questions that sound like they already purchased your service. |
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They re-examine the contract and have questions about it. |
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They request more details on pricing, implementation, etc. |
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They may try to negotiate with you. |
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“Closing is one of the most exciting parts of the sales for me. However, I need more motivation and feel isolated sometimes, what can you recommend?”
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Great timing on your request, check out www.tele-smart.com/blog as this blog is designed for the champions out there who touch our front line customers and prospects. It’s time to sound-off, and share with other telechampions.
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TeleSmart provides one complete solution for inbound and outbound call centers at both the manager and team level. Whether you are calling on installed base, enterprise or commercial, our TeleSmart 10 methodology applies for all.
It’s 2006 and time to make training relevant, timely and fun- add TeleSmart to your radar - check out our web site at www.tele-smart.com and read our blog- “Life in the Telebusiness Trenches” at www.tele-smart.com/blog
Contact TeleSmart Communications at 415-759-6537, or
send an email at getsmart@tele-smart.com
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