You’ve made your pitch and answered several rounds of queries, but you’re not any closer to a deal. What’s worse, people you’ve been interacting with are not the ones who would make the final call. No, the decision makers are elsewhere, and have a different set of priorities you haven’t quite addressed in your pitch.
Sounds like a nightmare? This is why closing questions are an important tool. It’s easy to miss out a few points while making a presentation and answering questions, but your closing questions should be designed to fill in these gaps and give you a clear idea about what to expect next.
Here’s a list of five powerful closing questions that’ll help you clinch the deal:
1. Does our solution meet your need?
Does your client see value in what you’re selling? This question is the key to finding out. There’s also a chance that, even after making the best pitch ever, you failed to elaborate on a feature that’s crucial for your prospect. So, make sure you know your prospect’s essential priorities and needs. You can alternatively ask: “Is there anything that’s important to you which I haven’t covered?”
2. How will you go about making this decision?
Every company has its own set of protocols for purchasing something. It’s important that you identify the decision makers as soon as possible. You might need to tweak your pitch depending on who the key players are. Also, as the prospects walk you through their typical buying process, you’ll get an estimated timeline, and a sense about how urgently they need your product or service.
3. What other companies have you looked at?
If your prospect answers this honestly, you’ll get an idea about the kind of prices and features they have already looked at, or are in the process of evaluating. This will help you identify features of your product that have to be leveraged to steal the deal. However, do not use this as an opportunity to criticize the competition. That will make you appear defensive and actually hurt your chances.
4. Is there anything that will prevent you from buying today?
Just because your prospect hasn’t raised any issues, doesn’t mean there aren’t any. This question will give your prospects an opportunity to voice any problems they might have been hesitant to bring up earlier. The answer will not only warn you about possible bottlenecks, but also tell you if the prospect is serious about buying.
5. *Silence*
To be a good salesman, you have to be a good listener. This means being comfortable with silence. More often than not, salespeople try to fill the silence by either reiterating what they just said or by small talk that adds no value. Let your prospects fill the silence. At the end of the meeting, they’re likely to tell you how they feel about your product or service, or elaborate on something they need. Use the opportunity to learn more about them and show them you are listening.
This is not an exhaustive list, but will certainly help you sell faster and more efficiently. If you’re not on track to complete your sales target this month, give these a try, and tell us how it went. Or do you have your own favourite closing questions? Let us know in the comments below.
very informative always enjoy reading about ways to make the sale meeting become more productive. Also the new Zoho Mail about has a great new look and awesome new features. Thank You Zoho
Love reading an article about what a Sales Person would need to know.
As a business owner my primary focus is ensuring that all of our customers are well looked after and happy with what they receive. Normally i have noticed that in the end that it is the product and the service that these customers do receive that will sell in the end. On another note, always listen to the client.