EXPERT SYSTEM: How to close a sale almost EVERY time

The way to close a sale is to ensure that you meet the complete criteria necessary to close the sale. Taking a stab in the dark simply won't work -- you need to know exactly what you need to do in order to get the signature.

Step 1: Make Certain You're Speaking to the Decision Maker
Ever spend half an hour pitching a prospect, only to have the person say at the end: "Hey, this sounds great. I'll talk to my boss and see if he wants to give this a try"? Before you start your pitch, make SURE you're talking to the decision maker... if they're not available, come back again when they are.

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME or the time of your prospect's staff. Period! This will be hard to do, to walk away from a potential sale because the decision maker isn't available... but it is something you must LEARN TO DO.

Step 2: Establish What It Takes to Make the Deal
When you start, you need to make sure you know what it will take to close. So how do you do that? This is POWERFUL stuff, so play close attention: you simply ASK. This is like sales magic!

It goes something like this, and it works almost EVERY SINGLE TIME...

YOU: "Are you the person who can make a decision for this business when it comes to advertising and marketing?"

PROSPECT: "Yes, that's me."

YOU: "So you have the authority to sign a marketing agreement?"

PROSPECT: "Absolutely."

YOU: "Fantastic. I'm going to show you some very powerful techniques that will definitely increase your business. If I outline for you a comprehensive plan that will boost your business, and if I can provide you the services necessary for a price you can afford, will you sign the deal today so that we can get started making you more profits?"

PROSPECT: "Well, no, sorry, I can't commit today."

YOU: "Ok then, let's make an appointment for another day when we can outline everything and you will be prepared to sign up."

OR...

YOU: "I'm going to show you some very powerful techniques that will definitely increase your business. If I outline for you a comprehensive plan that will boost your business, and if I can provide you the services necessary for a price you can afford, will you sign the deal today so that we can get started making you more profits?"

PROSPECT: "Well, sure. I definitely want more business."

YOU: "Great! But before I get started, let me ask you... If I could bump your monthly sales up by anywhere from 5% or 10% or more, what do you think that sort of thing would be worth? What would you pay for something like that?"

PROSPECT: "Well that would certainly be worth $200 a month to me."

YOU: "Fantastic. So here's how we're going to team up and boost your sales each and every month... [OUTLINE YOUR PLAN]."

As you go along, get your potential client to AGREE with your plan at each step...

YOU: "So do you see how an SMS text marketing campaign can bump up your sales instantly?"

PROSPECT: "Yes, yes I see that."

Having them AGREE at each step helps ensure agreement when you ask for the signature. Having them say "YES" and "YES" and "YES" again and again conditions them to say "YES" when it comes time to close. After you've outlined everything, then here comes the close...

YOU: "Now I can provide you all of these valuable services for just $200 a month. At the beginning you told me that you're the sole decision maker when it comes to this sort of thing. We also agreed that if I could show you a plan that will boost your sales, and if I could provide you those services at a price that makes sense -- you said $200 a month is reasonable -- then you would sign a deal to get started today. Am I correct on all of that?"

PROSPECT: "Yes, that's what I said."

[TAKE OUT YOUR AGREEMENT DOCUMENT AND PLACE IT IN FRONT OF THE PROSPECT]

YOU: "You've agreed with me that this plan could definitely increase your business. You said that a price of $200 is within your budget for these services, and that's exactly the amount I'm going to charge you to provide these valuable services. That's right, isn't it?"

PROSPECT: "Yes, that's right."

[TAKE OUT YOUR PEN AND HAND IT TO THE PROSPECT]

YOU: "I can't wait to get started helping you make more money. Will you sign this agreement now so that I can get started sending you more customers today?"

Then... SHUT UP. Don't say another word. Hold the pen until the prospect takes it and signs the agreement. Believe me, it will be hard, but this is a situation of "he who speaks first loses".

It will be extremely difficult for your prospect to say NO after you've conditioned them to say YES and you've also agreed on what it would take to close a deal. To say "NO" now would make the business owner feel like his word isn't to be trusted.

If the business owner says "NO" then you immediately need to find out why.

YOU: "Ok, so it would appear that I didn't cover everything that is necessary for you to decide to sign on with my service. What exactly did I fail to address?"

Get the prospect's objection and handle it. Whatever their objection is, address it fully, then go back and close them again, adding in the additional objection. Let's assume the prospect is afraid he doesn't have the technical expertise necessary to manage his own SMS texting campaigns. Well, you can handle that, you can manage them for him. Explain that in detail... then...

YOU: "You've agreed with me that this plan could definitely increase your business. You said that a price of $200 is within your budget for these services, and that's exactly the amount I'm going to charge you to provide these valuable services. You also said that if I could handle the sending of the text messages for you, rather than have you do it yourself, you'd be willing to give my services a try. That's right, isn't it?"

PROSPECT: "Yes, that's right."

And close the deal.

This isn't a trick. It isn't a trap. It isn't painting your prospect into a corner, it's simply making sure that you BOTH understand the rules BEFORE you begin the game.

Step 3: Provide a Valuable Service and Be Attentive to your Customer
The most important step is the one that comes AFTER you close your deal. Keep your customer in the loop through the setup process, and communicate with your customer at least once a week after their services are in place. Your BEST SALESMEN are your SATISFIED CUSTOMERS. They know a lot more people than you do, they have a lot more contacts in their line of business than you do, and they have a lot more influence in their business community than you do.

Well, that's really a super nutshell version of something that I teach all of my offline marketing students in training programs that take several hours to complete. I think you guys here in the WF get it and can easily apply these techniques without spending that much time learning it.

I hope that all makes sense. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask here.