Sales and closing are two independent activities. While some may view closing a deal as the tipping point in the sales process, they’re actually quite different. Even if your demo impresses your prospects or all your customer service touchpoints are excellent, closing the sale isn’t guaranteed.
The art of how to close deals is all about speaking to the right underlying felt needs and motivations. You can only do this if you gather enough of the buyer’s emotional weight to pin your prospect to the ground and earn submission. You gather this weight throughout the sale. It’s about uncovering what matters to the customer most, then using that information to close.
Sales, then, is a prerequisite for closing. But how to close deals is a product of a time-tested closing strategy called Closing ARCs. Without this technique and other tips you need in closing a deal, your closing ratio will remain meager at best. We’re here to keep that from happening.
Here, we’ll take a look into the closing ARC, and then we’ll discover sales tips to close more deals realistically. Keep reading.
The Art of Closing A Deal
Why is there even a need to learn how to close deals? The answer is quite simple. As a business owner, your success hinges on your sales team’s ability to close, not just sell.
However, statistics tell a different angle on why learning the art of closing deals is imperative for all businesses.
According to PointClear, the best companies close around 30 percent of their sales qualified leads (SQL). On the other hand, average businesses only hover around the 20 peercent mark. Viewing the statistic from a wider lens, we see that not all leads are viable for conversion. Marketing qualified leads (MQL) need to undergo a customer qualification process to determine who enters the sales funnel.
Converting Marketing Qualified Leads to Sales Qualified Leads has an average conversion rate of 13 percent across industries. In other words, if you have 1,000 MQLs, around 130 of them become SQLs. If your salespeople are somehow decent at how to close deals, you can get around a measly 39 clients.
That’s not nearly enough.
The Closing ARC is a modern-day sales method that uses age-old principles of communication. ARC is an abbreviation for three fundamental elements: Agree, Rebuttal and Close. Ultimately, the Closing ARC is a strategy that enables salespeople to address all sorts of prospect defense mechanisms, including:
- Complaints
- Lies
- Objections
- Stalls
- Excuses
- Rejection
Feel free to access our dedicated guide that teaches how the Closing ARC is important for your everyday sales. Here is a quick run-through of how each element operates:
Agree
Sale occurs when there is an alignment of deep-seated beliefs between your salespeople and your prospect. By agreeing to them, you elicit the desired cooperation you need to guide prospects through the negotiation process. You will never close a sale by being contrary.
Your agreement is more than just understanding and acknowledging customer concerns. It’s about comprehending what your customers really want and speaking with respect to their deep-seated beliefs. The sense of belonging they feel triggers the emotional tendency of people to attach to others with similar beliefs. This is perceived as empathy.
Rebuttal
There are limits to the level of agreement you offer them. If you agree with every superficial lie, complaint, or stall they have, you throw the closing process down the drain. The secret to how to close deals is speaking with conviction to WHY your solution is the best there is.
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” – Simon Sinek
Rebuttals should introduce the same information from a new angle of approach each time an objection is given. When you unearth which of the 6 objections they are struggling with, you will be able to hit them with what they care about most to close the sale.
The rebuttal is commonly the number one area for improvement with 90% of salespeople. The more rebuttals on hand, the more unique angles can be pursued to close the sale.
Close
There’s a point in the negotiation where prospects feel right about the value you are offering and are open to committing. When a prospect feels as though the scale has tipped in their favor when it comes to their money, energy, and time, they will agree to the purchase.
The Closing ARC is a single event. Closing ARCs can be stacked on Closing ARCs in order to get the commitment. As a closer, you are looking to flush out the true objection and make them feel that you are providing the best solution for the money, energy, and time investment. Given that there are 6 possible objections, you must have a variety of different Closing ARCs at the ready to ensure you close the deal.
How to close deals is simple if you have the tools for the trade. Wizard of Sales® has it and he can help you acquire the same skill for your business. It begins by booking a call.
3 Sales Tips To Close More Deals Realistically
Effective sales closing is a product of rigorous practice and persistence. Even with the Closing ARC at your disposal, if rejection throws your salespeople off their game, they’ll struggle. The Closing ARC is undoubtedly the most effective strategy in your toolbox, but what can you do to square up a better closing sequence?
Here are 3 important sales closing tips on how to close deals realistically:
1. Indoctrinate your customer
The process of how to close deals is more than giving away empty promises to your prospects. It’s not even about your prospects understanding the feature and benefits of your solutions. It’s all about building a customer-oriented relational experience (CORE).
What does this mean?
The very first thing a prospect is looking for is empathy. You can demonstrate that by how convenient you make the experience, from the CSR to the installer.
The next thing they are looking for is competence. Competence is demonstrated by the questions you ask and the processes you follow. Virtually no customer cares to see under the hood or discuss technical stuff with the Technician. They just want to know that you can fix it right the first time. They don’t need the headache of a return visit or a complete breakdown after your technician was just there.
When you slow down, take your time, and explain things plainly, you indoctrinate your customers. This will make it far easier for them to take action when it comes time to buy.
2. Set the stage early on
2. Set the stage early onThe more time you take setting the stage for the close, the easier the close will be. This includes everything from managing expectations, price conditioning, and getting finance pre-approvals.
For example, we know it’s easier to close a large sale if all decision-makers are present and able to ask questions. So let’s figure out how to get the spouse on the phone if something were to come up.
While some might feel this is pushy, they are dead wrong. This will increase your credibility as people feel more prepared as the situation unfolds. Surprising people with new information, too much information, or contradictory information is far more damaging to a potential sale than preparing a person upfront.
The worst that’s going to happen is that you won’t spend as much time with a person who is unwilling or unable to buy what you sell.
3. Resolve their Pain
People are assessing the risk and reward, pain and pleasure environment a staggering 5 times every second. It is literally baked into our DNA. Essentially, when faced with a purchase they didn’t intend to make, like those in residential home services, they will do everything in their power to make the pain go away.
The customer pain points stem from the anti-motivators of fear, shame and guilt. But they also feel discomfort in spending their precious money, energy, and time. So the less they can spend to quell their pain, the faster they will get back to a baseline of happy.
Now if they have a thriving mindset, they may want to exceed a baseline of happiness, and really keep up with those Joneses. In these instances, you are able as the seller to accelerate the good feelings and snuff out the bad ones by appealing to their identity, purpose, and adventure as well.
Ultimately, whatever you do, get them back to their happy place. The sooner you can make the bad feelings of the situation go away, the sooner they will buy your stuff.
When you integrate these three sales tips into your sales process, you increase the likelihood of closing more deals. You want to persuade both the left and right brain. When you inspire the emotional right brain, the left brain will be left to justify with logic.
This is the secret of how to close deals.
How To Properly Close a Deal?
So you’ve discovered the Closing ARC and went through the tips to reinforce your closing strategies. How then do you properly close a deal? Are there questions you could ask? Phrases you must recite? Do you simply ask them if it’s a “deal or no deal”?
We compiled a dedicated list of action-driven sales closing phrases to seal the deal. Access it to discover the in-depth explanations of how each line affects prospects and works in your favor.
Here are some closing questions and statements you will want to consider to finish off your closing ARC:
- Are we ready to do this?
- If we get this paperwork done before noon, you will have the system in before bed.
- Did you want to put it on finance, or pay by credit card?
- I’ll go ahead and start getting the inventory pulled together while you finish up the paperwork?
- This solution makes sense. Let’s get it done.
- What should we do? (thank you Joe Crisara)
- It’s always over budget. Nobody woke up looking to spend money on an air conditioner today. This is the right one for you though. Let’s get it in so you can stop worrying about not having any cool air.
- Let’s do this!
Prospects won’t tell you they’re ready. Commitment is scary. Once your salespeople are convinced they have identified the best overall solution for the buyer, they should be persistent in closing the deal.
There is no value in not closing a deal. It only serves as a waste of time and energy. We don’t truly help our customers win until a sale is made. The key is to do it in a trustworthy and grateful manner.
Without a solid system on how to close deals, you’re leaving stacks of cash on the table. If you need support in mastering your closing strategies, Wizard of Sales® is the expert Closer you need. Book a call.