This is the seventh video in our series on how to sell software to businesses, and we discuss closing the deal.
Deals Should Close Themselves
While it can be easy to see the close as the most difficult step in the sales process, I believe that if you do everything else properly, closing should be extremely easy. In fact, it is very possible for deals to almost close themselves.
If you properly go through the steps of finding the prospect’s pain, building interest in your product as a solution, and qualifying the prospect as being able to buy, there should not be a need at the end of the sales process to push the prospect to move forward.
Trial Close
One tactic that we discuss in this video is to trial close the prospect. This is asking questions to test close the prospect on where they are in terms of what they are thinking. This can be extremely helpful because, while you could easily assume you know what the prospect is thinking, it is very valuable to get the prospect to share what they are thinking and wanting in their own words.
When you think of closing tactics, you might primarily think of something you do at the end of the sales process. But trial closing is something you can do every step of the sales process and every time you speak with the prospect. Even if the actual purchase is very far down the road, you can still ask the prospect what they think about what is being discussed and the direction everything is going.
Compelling Event
One thing that can make closing easier is uncovering if there is a compelling event for the prospect. This would be a date that is significantly tied to their purchase.
For example, if their current contract expires on the last day of the year and they need their new system to be in place by that date, that date is a compelling event. If you were able to identify this detail, you could then use that during the sales process to keep things moving forward.
Partnership Plan
One of the best tools for closing that we discuss in this video is to use a partnership plan with the prospect. This is a document that lists out the steps that both parties will need to take between the presentation or proposal and the customer purchasing.
The salesperson can create the first version of the steps and then present that at the end of the product presentation. After presenting, the salesperson can then work with the prospect to make any needed changes to the plan and then close the prospect on the agreement to move forward with the plan.
If there is a partnership plan that both parties have agreed to, the salesperson will have more control of the remainder of the sales process and it will be much easier to close the prospect.