"The time has come for one of us to buy and you’re the only one at the table that can do that." It’s not the most polished closing statement ever made, but it won a $3.5M deal when I gave it. I smiled, looked our prospect in the eye, and almost saw one of my regional manager’s lunch when I said it.
As we drove back to the airport I was asked why I went for the close in that meeting, it wasn’t staged as a closing call. Simple. We had already presented, positioned, and nurtured our solution – we had done what we were supposed to do, it was time for our prospect to either buy or tell us why they wouldn’t. Either way, we win.
Some sales people are afraid to ask for an order. I understand many of their reasons; none are acceptable. Fear of rejection or ending a business relationship is among the top reasons many fail to close. Lack of confidence in their solution or concern of being pushy is others.
You should never be afraid to ask for a prospect’s business, after all, that’s why you’re there. Your job is to sell the solutions your company offers. Your prospect expects that at some time in your relationship you’re going to ask for their business. Don’t disappoint them.
Something I do early in a sales opportunity is ask my prospect what their decision process is for purchasing a solution such as I’m selling. With my prospect, I map out each step of the sales process before I begin the heavy lifting of selling. This is especially effective in B2B and complex sales; it qualifies the prospect as being the person I should be selling to, identifies others in the organization that influence the sale, and makes my forecast more accurate.
Bottom-line. There is a time to ask for the business. You know in your gut when that time is and you shouldn’t hesitate to ask. If you’re rejected, you’ll at least know where you stand in the deal, what barriers need to be overcome, and whether or not you have a realistic chance of winning your prospect’s business.
It's In The Mail - Direct Mail is Alive and Kicking!
Compared to a lot of companies in our field we do a lot of direct mail – postcards, sales letters, promotions, announcements, lead generation. Between client business and ours, we’re averaging one campaign every two weeks; about 1500 pieces per mailing. We’re planning expansion to over 2000 pieces per campaign and will increase mailings to once per week. One particular business interest will grow to 10,000 pieces a month. We’re constantly building and adding to our mailing lists.
There's never a bad time for a great sales promotion!
I love spring! The warm days, sunshine, fresh flowers…it’s a welcome relief from colder, shorter, wetter winter months. Plus, it’s a built-in great opportunity for a sales promotion! From March 21 – June 20, you can run a promotion targeted at both existing and new customers. There's never a bad time for a great sales promotion and spring is real-made for such an event.
Paper Direct Mail Is Not Dead
I recently witnessed a conversation about the “death” of paper direct mail due to the “life” of web presence and blogs. I’m not exactly sure why, but someone seems to declare the “death” of a marketing technique every few months…I guess that’s how some consultants stay employed – announce the “death” of something and create the “life” of something new. Anyway, I disagree with the notion paper direct mail is dead and as such thought I’d share how we integrate paper direct mail into our marketing, sales, and lead nurturing systems.
