Ever heard anyone say something like…” we need more people able to close… you need to teach us closing skills…”

Like me I’m sure most of you will have a book on the subject of closing deals and by reading these you can become learned in the black art of the trial close, the story close, the alternative close, the assumptive close, the price close, the direct close, the indirect close, etc, etc… it goes on and on.

These techniques may work on the general public; they are sometimes very set piece and rather tardy when used business to business. Closing starts a long time before the end of the sale and the reason why most deals do not close is more to do with the way they are opened, rather than not being able to close.

If you have people who can’t close then do some analysis on their pipeline.

Let’s assume John needs some help.

The place to start is by reviewing all the deals that John has not managed to close. Sort them in to two lists.

• The first list is for the deals that did close, but with another firm – let’s call this the closed list.
• The second list is for the deals that have not closed with anyone – the open list.

If you have lots of deals listed under ‘closed’ then John does indeed appear to have a problem with closing. If however, there are a lot of deals list under ‘open’ then the problem may not be so much as closing but more of qualification – you can’t close a deal if the prospect is not that convinced they need the solution.

Why deals don’t close is a big subject, but here are some early pointers…

For deals that would fall under the ‘open’ category you first need to focus on the customer’s Business Imperative. This is looking at their need and why they must address it now. It is about linking pain and pleasure to their business and developing strong questions to ask that will make the prospect think. Making them think adds value and develops trust and respect. – this is all good groundwork for closing. You also need to make sure the deal is properly qualified and again ‘open’ deals would suggest poor qualification.

Now we turn our attention to the ‘closed’ list. Sub divide this into two further groups:

• The first group we will call the incumbent. This is the list of all deals that were given to the prospect’s incumbent supplier.
• The second list is all that closed deals that did not go to an incumbent.

Winning against a trusted incumbent is difficult. The incumbent has the trust, the respect and would be considered low risk. These deals need careful qualification. A negative strategy may help – you get the prospect to convince you that you will be given equal opportunity. If they want you to bid then you need full access to their personnel to build relationships and to build trust. If you don’t get the access, then qualify out as you will not win.

Now the last list – deals that have closed and not gone to an incumbent. If this is a large list, then you do need to look at the skills of your sales person. First of all are they confident, do they radiate with confidence in their ability and the ability of the firm? Would you buy from someone who is not confident? Do they let the prospect know that the deal is important to them, that it is personal and that they want to win it? They have to ask for the deal. They have to show that it is important. These qualities have to be there or closing will become difficult.

As I mentioned, closing is a big subject. Sales process is important and process starts with good qualification. Couple this with the Business Imperative, a good Value proposition and being in a position to influence then these are all the right ingredients. Qualification Analysis, Business Imperative Analysis, Value Analysis and Relationship Analysis are all parts of the sales process. Mix these with good communication skills and closing will become easier.

In summary, closing starts at the beginning of the process and requires solid sales foundation. There is no silver bullet for closing. It’s the general sales skills at fault, not closing skills.

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