How to Get the Focus to Close the Sale
Posted by: Cheryl Clausen in sales coaching, tags: closing the sale, how to sell, sales coachingLack of focus is a big challenge for most people. There are just so many distractions, opportunities, and crisis going on it’s hard to stay on track and focused. Most of us can only sustain focus for short bursts of concentrated effort. Focus is hard work.
The Role of Focus in Closing the Sale
All too often you unwittingly set yourself up for failure when it comes time to ask for the sale. Here are just 3 of the most common mistakes you make:
- You give your prospect too many choices
- Those choices feel too complicated to the prospect
- The prospect is not clear about the outcome
Before you think about asking a potential client to buy make sure you know enough about their needs so you can limit their choices to no more than three.
Sometimes it’s just plain hard for your potential client to really understand what you are selling. It isn’t because they lack intelligence. Rather they simply don’t have the expertise in this area that you do. That means you have to make it crystal clear.
Stories, analogies, and examples are great ways to do that. We naturally think in pictures so use that to your advantage. Let’s say I came to your office to talk to you about how I can help you get the clients you want so you can do what you get paid to do. Here’s how I might transform this concept into something more tangible.
Before coming to your office I might stop at the greeting card store and purchase one of those greeting cards that you can record a message in that plays when it’s opened. As we are talking I will need to help you realize that it takes marketing, sales, and referrals to fill and keep your business full of clients. After we’ve talked for a while but before we are ready to close I need to make sure you fully appreciate this concept.
I hand you the greeting card in the envelop. Then I might ask, “If you were sorting through your mail and noticed this hand addressed envelop how likely is it that you would stop and open that envelop?” I’ve yet to meet anyone who does not open a personal communication in the mail. I would then explain how this card represents your need to let the people most likely to become your clients know about you and that’s called marketing. Marketing grabs the attention of these ideal potential clients and makes a favorable first impression.
I would then ask you to remove the card from the envelop and open it. I would point out how the recording in the card is like sales. I would have pre-recorded a message in the card that includes a request for action. Then I would explain how this message represents your opportunity to invite the receiver to take an action that brings you at least one step closer in the process of working together.
I would point out how neither the envelop or the card itself for this particular card are specifically addressed to my potential client. The reason is because this card can serve as a tool your existing clients can use to easily refer you to the people they know. This particular card is intended to get passed along from client to potential client. A note inside the card would also explain this concept.
If we had sat together and I had shared this card and this story about the card with you, do you think you could remember my card story?
Was it a good way to show you how it all works together?
Could you repeat my story?
BINGO
That’s exactly what you want. You want to use a story, analogy, or example to make your offer understandable, memorable, and repeatable. You may not realize just how important repeatable is. You see when your potential clients decide to choose you they will need to logically explain their decision to someone else, and you want to make it super easy for them to do that.
Plus your story makes it very clear what your buyer is getting. A confused mind can not buy. Until your potential client can answer these two questions they aren’t ready to buy:
- What do I get?
- Why do I want that?
Coach Cheryl
photo credit: Creations by Ro
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