Sales Closing Techniques and How to Execute Them | Accordium

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Finding a good sales closing technique is almost like winning on the lottery. It’s definitely a possibility, as people win all the time. But it never seems to happen to you. You never seem to have the luck you need.

Closing a sale is very difficult. There’s no doubt that it’s the hardest part of the funnel, and the part that sales reps train for years to try and get right. And often they are unsuccessful.

But those that are successful all use the same sales techniques. The best tips they know for closing a deal. They’re tried, tested and proven, and we want to share them with you.

From our experience and research, the most effective sales closing techniques are:

  1.   Do your research 
  2.   Always be closing 
  3.   Summarise and value stack
  4.   Suggest a solution
  5.   Offer different options
  6.   Assume the deal 
  7.   Make a limited time offer 
  8.   Anticipate and surprise 
  9.   Ask questions

Keep reading for more information on each of these sales closing tips.

Think of this like the ultimate guide to closing the deal. 

All these techniques will help you improve your sales closing skills. They all work. Some of these tips might close some deals, and not others. Some should be used in conjunction with others. But knowing all of these techniques will help you get that sale.

You could call all of them modern sales closing techniques, but in reality these are tips that have been used by sales reps for decades – if not longer. We’re just going to show you how to use them to increase your success rate in a modern business environment.

1. Do your research and put in the hard work 

The most important sales closing technique to know – the one that will help you with every single sale – is that you need to do your research. Closing a deal doesn’t come with a snap of the fingers, it takes time and effort. You need to take the time to research everything you can about your prospective client, their business and their industry.

And you need to put the effort into building a rapport, with phone calls and face to face meetings. Personalised sales videos can help you make that personal connection.

2. Always be closing 

The second technique you should know to help you close that deal is that it’s something you should always be doing. It’s not a switch you turn on at the end of the conversation. The best sales reps know they should be closing from their initial conversation.

Throughout your interactions, try and make a series of mini closes, getting smaller commitments – like agreeing to a meeting, or promising to try out the product – that pushes your prospect further and further down the sales funnel.

3. Make sure you summarise and value stack 

After you’ve been through all the details of your pitch, it’s always a good idea to summarise your offer. Try and value stack, where you list all the different features, one after the other, that your prospective client will get if they sign up. It makes it seem like the value is too good to miss and helps them visualise all the benefits.

Painting a picture of the full package – and how it will transform a business – is a sales closing technique that the most effective sales reps use again and again. It’s known as the summary close.

4. Suggest the solution you’re offering 

The suggestive close is a common sales technique that allows you to demonstrate your understanding of your prospect and their business, show you have been listening and provide a solution to their problems.

After your prospect has finished telling you about the challenges they face, you can turn around and say something like:

 “I can see how that must make things really difficult for you. But you know what, you could try this product, because it has a great feature that can take care of all of that for you.” 

You could even send a personalised sales video, after a meeting, to show your client you’ve been thinking over what they said, and have come up with a great solution for them. Suddenly, you’re helping them, not closing the deal.

5. Offer several different options

If you have several different product packages or service options, then use them to your advantage when you’re closing the deal. The optional close is a sales technique that offers prospective clients a choice – option 1 or option 2.

You simply ask: “Which would you like to go with, this option, or this option?” Your prospect is faced with a simple binary choice, both of which are to take the deal. The option to decline is not offered and is out of mind.

6. Make an assumption of a deal 

Another common and effective sales closing technique is the assumptive close. It’s where you assume the outcome will always be a deal made, and suggest as much to the customer. At the end of a conversation, you might say:

“OK, so when shall we get started?” or “Who do we send the paperwork to?”

A word of warning though. This sales closing tip requires confidence and can come across in an arrogant way to some clients. Spend time checking-in and taking the temperature of your prospective client to make sure they’re happy and receptive; regular personal videos sent straight to their inbox can be a great way of doing this.

7. Make a limited time offer 

Used across every industry, this sales closing technique is simple and straightforward. Now or never. Create a sense of urgency by offering your prospective client a one-time special offer, if they close the deal now (or within a set time frame).

It forces them to make a decision rather than sitting on the fence, and gives them extra incentive to do so. The trick is establishing value first. You don’t want to go in too soon with an offer.

One way to execute this is to wrap up your conversation on pricing (non-discounted) and then send a personal video 24 hours later that says you really connected and would like to give them a one-time discount to help continue your relationship.

8. Anticipate responses and surprise your prospects

After a few pitches, you’ll start to notice common questions and objections that arise from your prospects. One great sales closing technique is to turn these around and use them to your advantage.

Head off potential objections right away. For example: “I know that you’re going to say integration is a problem, but we take care of all that for you” or “Don’t worry about learning how to use it, training is included.” 

You can even anticipate the question about discounts. When your client asks if there’s a discount, if you’ve cleared it with management beforehand, you could respond straight away:

“You know what, I can do you a discount yes, but only if you sign up today”. 

The surprise at getting what they asked for can often shock a prospect into closing the deal.  

9. Ask Questions 

Finally, one of the most effective sales closing techniques is also the simplest. Ask questions. Throughout all your conversations, take the time to ask questions of your prospect.

Ask them about their problems and their challenges. Ask them about what type of solution they need. And ask them about your pitch:

  • How does that sound? 
  • Does that solve your problem?
  • What’s holding you back? (or if you want a softer approach: what might prevent you from moving forward?)  

All these questions will give you answers that you can use to your advantage.

The soft sales closing techniques are the more effective ones

We’re all turned off by the hard sell. We like to think we’re making the decision ourselves, and that we’re not being pushed into anything against our better judgement.

But as sales reps, we know that sometimes the prospect needs a bit of a helping hand to cross the finish line, a suggestive nudge in the right direction. That’s what these sales tips do.

And here are some additional, bonus sales closing techniques you might want to try:

10. Remove Options Take away product features or services, one by one to lower the price and meet budget objections. Your prospect will soon focus on what they’re missing out on.

11. Something for nothing Use the reciprocity principle to give something for free to your prospect, and they’ll feel like they need to give something back to you – a signature on the paperwork.

12. Pros and cons list – write out a list of pros and cons of your product/service with your prospect. They’ll soon see all the benefits and have fewer objections.

13. Are you sure? Even after a prospect says no, you can still ask “Are you sure?” The very act of asking forces your prospect to reconsider, to think about their decision and doubt themselves. It gives you a chance to recap and remind prospects of the benefits.

14. People like you Use social proof to help close that deal, by sending testimonials to your prospect of “people just like you who’ve benefited from this solution” and they won’t want to miss out.

Follow our blog to not miss out on future content on these bonus sales closing techniques.

Using personal sales videos – with a simple platform like Accordium – can also help you close more deals. Try it out for free today.

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