Discover the best Closing Techniques in Sales that will help you close more deals and boost your revenues, profits and commissions.

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Closing Techniques In Sales – B2B Selling
Techniques
October 22, 2013 by Iain Swanston – www.iainswanstononline.com
Closing Techniques in Sales are always in demand by Sales
Teams looking for ways to increase their performance. The most
common mistake we see however, is that Sales Teams are trying
to close opportunities that are not yet ready for closing. What’s
worse, is that more often than not, by trying to close an
opportunity that is not ready, sales people can very often lose the
opportunity completely. There is a balance to be struck between
the timid “never ask for the order” sales person and the blunt
force “Always be closing” approach. To optimize your
opportunities, and choose the perfect time to use those Closing
Techniques in Sales, you can follow these 7 simple steps, to determine for yourself when a
prospect is ready for closing.
Rather than rushing to the Presentation stage of the sales process, if sales people were to
spend more time accurately diagnosing the root cause of the problems, the business and
personal impact of the problems, buyers would be much more likely to want to move forward
with a sales professional proficient at this, than anyone using Closing Techniques in Sales.

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WITH REGARDS TO THE GAP – The gap is the difference between where the buyer is
right now and their desired state in the future.
1)
Has the buyer verbally acknowledged the existence of a gap between where they are
now and where they need to be?
2)
Has the buyer verbally acknowledged the symptoms caused by the Gap?
3)
Has the buyer verbally agreed with your joint Root Cause Analysis?
4)
Has the buyer verbally acknowledged the impact on their business of this Gap?
5)
Has the buyer verbally committed to eliminating the Gap?
6)
Has the buyer quantified the cost of the Gap?
7)
Has the buyer verbally stated the emotional reasons for closing the Gap?
This form of GAP ANALYSIS obviously requires great product knowledge, experience and
Consultative Selling Skills.
You will notice we use the phrase “verbally acknowledge” often. In our experience, most
sales people fail to clarify exactly what is important to the buyer and what is being said by the
buyer, versus what they are hearing. Optimism, enthusiasm, desperation, assumptions and

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simple inattention to detail, all serve to cloud the hearing of sales people. Unless the words
come from the buyers’ lips, the sales person needs to confirm everything.
By teaching sales people this step by step process, you will find that buyers actually start to
give the sales people the order, before the sales person has to ask for it. The best sales people
simply facilitate the right conditions for the buyer to buy. In addition you will find this
process easier to teach than closing techniques, as it will not conflict with any negative
paradigms the sales person has, and buyers are much more comfortable with this process.
Whilst we strongly advocate you follow the seven step process to allow the buyer to
buy, this does not mean you never use Closing Sales Techniques or never ask for the
order. If the sales person has walked the buyer through the seven steps, they have every right
to ask for the order and indeed should do so.
The great thing about this process is the flexibility in terms of the time taken to go through
the seven steps. For smaller, less complex transactional sales it might only make sense to be
taking a light touch, on each of the seven areas over a 15 minute conversation. For complex
Solution Selling with multiple decision makers and influencers, you can drill down into each
of the areas in real detail. Remember if you want to speed the sale up, slow the sale down to
make sure you cover all the bases.
Remember the best Sales Professionals do not need to use Closing Techniques in Sales, as
their buyers close the sale on themselves. Once you master this, you will find selling is
much easier, and a much more enjoyable process for your sales team and your buyers.
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