Help! Need to learn how to close a sale

12 replies
Hi all,

I was told to post my question here - so -below is what I need to do.

I need to learn how to close a sale fast over the phone. My background is tech oriented so I don't have a previous history in sales. I was hoping for someone to mentor by making/closing a call (so I could learn how to do it properly). I am open to the person having money from the first sale (since I am shy on funds now).

I had heard that if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for life. Well, I need to learn how to fish.

Thanks!

PS - the only reason why I am asking is because I don't have customers now. I am not sure if it is because the message (to the potential customer) is off or if I just have not found the "diamond in the rough" yet.
#close #learn #sale
  • Profile picture of the author ATevan22
    Ask for the sale. Only a very small % of people are going to close themselves over the phone, so you have to lead them there.

    Treat each person as an individual. For example, what works to close somebody from Ohio would probably would be too soft of a close for somebody from New York.

    Also, read some sales books.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ron Lafuddy
    Originally Posted by dgmufasa View Post

    Hi all,

    I was told to post my question here - so -below is what I need to do.

    I need to learn how to close a sale fast over the phone. My background is tech oriented so I don't have a previous history in sales. I was hoping for someone to mentor by making/closing a call (so I could learn how to do it properly). I am open to the person having money from the first sale (since I am shy on funds now).

    I had heard that if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for life. Well, I need to learn how to fish.

    Thanks!

    PS - the only reason why I am asking is because I don't have customers now. I am not sure if it is because the message (to the potential customer) is off or if I just have not found the "diamond in the rough" yet.
    I have questions for you.

    You've been a member here since 2012?

    What have you been doing with your time? Why haven't you invested the time to learn selling skills over the last couple of years?
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  • Profile picture of the author Freebiequeen1999
    Seriously.....use the search feature

    search this forum

    and yeah Google is your friend

    I think I will hustle over to a forum for professional chefs and ask them how to boil water
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  • Profile picture of the author bananapeel
    search youtube im sure theres some videos on there
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  • Profile picture of the author s62731
    Originally Posted by dgmufasa View Post

    Hi all,

    I was hoping for someone to mentor by making/closing a call (so I could learn how to do it properly). I am open to the person having money from the first sale (since I am shy on funds now).
    So you're asking someone who's a killer salesperson to teach you how to close sales, and pay them with the money they make from their own sale?

    This will never happen. Well not with a great salesperson anyway. Why? Because salespeople CLOSE. They close sales. And to mentor you for free would be the opposite of that. Want to teach someone how to sell? The first step is to sell them. Not work with them for free.

    On top of that, people who are great salespeople and closers, are generally making a heap of money. They don't have time to sell someone else's product for them for a sh*t commission.

    Want to learn how to make sales?

    The free way is to read books, watch videos, and above all implement. Implement and take action until you're exhausted. Eventually you'll pick it up.

    The other way is to PAY someone to teach you, watch you, give you feedback and mentor you into becoming an incredible salesperson. This way is faster, but does cost money.
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  • Profile picture of the author Freebiequeen1999
    There is another way - by doing....you get a j-o-b - telemarketing rooms are always hiring...no experience needed, learn on the job - learn or they throw you out but you will see if this is for you

    Get a sales job - door to door or biz to biz - they are always hiring....
    get a job with a company that has a process and trainers and that will take you out with an experienced person - learn on the job

    You can make money and get skills - you can learn to sell and the same stuff works in different fields and different pitchs, products, etc. You learn to tweak it....you learn to think it through..envision the sale,assume the sale, close close close

    No one can sit here and teach you this,not for free...we have gone over and over this so many times so you can search here and see a lot of this stuff, people have different ways, ideas and means..the result is the end result..if you got the sale you did it right

    if you keep getting the sale you keep doing it, you tweak it you make it better

    Oh..and sales should be duplicatable

    By this I mean....Bill is the "top" salesperson in a company and closes sales...but...we then learn that Bill's dad owns a golf club and a boat and he takes prospects out for fun, party , lots of women and booze on the boat...and gets the contract signed
    LOL...you can't compete on that

    it should be reasonable and duplicatable
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    • Profile picture of the author dgmufasa
      Originally Posted by Ron Lafuddy View Post

      I have questions for you.

      You've been a member here since 2012?

      What have you been doing with your time? Why haven't you invested the time to learn selling skills over the last couple of years?
      My normal background is in the computer science area. What I was doing initially was developing code first and then attempting to sell second. This was problematic as during the development phase, I run out of money - can't finish the code - then have to go back to work to make enough money - then get off again and try once more.

      It is difficult to work (or look for work) and do actual development at the same time.

      Originally Posted by s62731 View Post

      So you're asking someone who's a killer salesperson to teach you how to close sales, and pay them with the money they make from their own sale?
      OK - I thought that what I had was a good idea. I am not selling insurance, vacuum cleaners or cars. I just have an idea. I have mentioned the idea to the target market - they seem to like it :| one saying that it did "address a pain".

      Most of the ideas I have have described as "huge" by other business people in the past. It was just getting the time/skills to fully develop it and get it to market that was the problem for me.

      Also, at the time (back in 2012), my strength was on back-end development and not front-end (HTML, javascript, etc.) It took a while to develop those. I think that a nice-looking site could help the customer to choose (have more confidence) in you as well. Without a good looking site, how can anyone take you seriously?

      Anywho, because it is an "actual pain", my thoughts were that it should be an easy sell. That was the reason why I was offering it an incentive. Again, my goal is to work with something that is *desperately needed* first and then *needed* second. If one needs a super-salesman to sell it, then it is not needed at all.

      This will never happen. Well not with a great salesperson anyway. Why? Because salespeople CLOSE. They close sales. And to mentor you for free would be the opposite of that. Want to teach someone how to sell? The first step is to sell them. Not work with them for free.
      IMHO, if what is being offered is unique and actually solves a problem for the client, superior sales would not be needed. But some kind of sales skill would be needed in the process.

      I remember when I was a kid, I sold candy at my high school for a club I was a part of. Another club was also selling candy. The difference was that the candy I had was name-brand: Snickers, Crunchbar, Reeses, etc. The other club was selling generic-brands.

      I did not want to constantly ask people "Do you want to buy some candy" (I'm a programmer not a salesman) so all I did was get a clear plastic sandwich bag, put the candy inside and laid it on my desk during class.

      I ALWAYS sold out without begging anyone to buy it - so much that the lead of the other club (who was a teacher) told me to stop selling it as she did not want the competition for her club.

      This is the type of advertising/marketing/selling I want to become savvy with. So - my thought was to do SaaS applications or apps for the Cloud that are actually useful/needed in some way, shape or form.

      On top of that, people who are great salespeople and closers, are generally making a heap of money. They don't have time to sell someone else's product for them for a sh*t commission.
      As mentioned before, I am a software developer. If I come up with a multi-million dollar idea - again - of course, I will ask someone else for assistance in bringing it to market

      Originally Posted by Freebiequeen1999 View Post

      Get a sales job - door to door or biz to biz - they are always hiring....
      get a job with a company that has a process and trainers and that will take you out with an experienced person - learn on the job
      Yes - I had considered this. I thought the car salesman was a little sleazy though because you are trying to force someone to purchase something they may/may not want.

      By this I mean....Bill is the "top" salesperson in a company and closes sales...but...we then learn that Bill's dad owns a golf club and a boat and he takes prospects out for fun, party , lots of women and booze on the boat...and gets the contract signed
      LOL...you can't compete on that

      it should be reasonable and duplicatable
      From what you are saying, Bill is selling something that is more of a commodity and not anything really needed. Because of this, he has to plot, scheme and perhaps do other (unscrupulous) things because he's one of many others who are selling the same widget.

      This is not what I am going for.

      I guess the best example I can think of is the time during the Y2K software "crisis" many moons ago. Companies were scared to death of the 99 turning to 00 with their software. The company I worked for at the time made a lot of money selling multi-million dollar contracts to companies like Exxon, BMW, Hershey, Porche, etc.

      There were no women, no golf courses, no liquor, no strippers or what not. The companies NEEDED the software and the company I worked for at the time was the only one who provided it. I suppose this is where opportunity meets preparation :|

      My goal is to be the provider of something that meets a big need (using technology of course since my background is in computers). Specifically, something that solves a problem for many people.

      If there are 1 million people who complain about the same problem and you have a possible answer, then if you charged them $2 for the answer - say once more month, that is 2 million per month and 24 million per year.

      This is where I wish to go.

      ETA: Even tho this is the way I wish to go, I still must "pay the bills" - hence the reason for the request for help.

      I was just looking for help to get it from email to close. But, I will keep working and see what I will get.
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      • Profile picture of the author animal44
        Originally Posted by dgmufasa View Post

        Without a good looking site, how can anyone take you seriously?
        Put your shades on before looking at this. She's turning over £3.5 million a month... Not exactly the best looking site, eh?

        I don't have a website for my current business, yet I'm making millions...

        As for selling, why not partner up with someone who can sell and already has access to your customers. Stick with your coding and let them do what they do well. 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing. You'll never be able to do everything yourself.

        Of course, if you want a change in career, then just get out there and start selling... :-)

        BTW, I am a computer type also. Originally a techy, OS stuff on mainframes (anyone remember mainframes?) then some software development on PCs. I learnt to sell simply by getting out there as a freelance consultant. Nobody really taught me. I can't do a Zig Ziglar or Brian Tracy, I only do Animal . Don't get too hung up, selling isn't rocket science. Find your own style. You'll know when you get there as you'll be making sales...!
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    OP: just scroll through and search through the threads in this subforum

    On page 1 right now you'd quickly run across
    http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...new-sales.html

    There are a good half-dozen, probably more, great salespeople who have been posting here for YEARS.
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  • Profile picture of the author jamesfreddyc
    It is difficult to work (or look for work) and do actual development at the same time.
    boo-hoo.... Up your hustle man/gal! Yes it's tough... and?

    I was in same shoes as you, I created a SaaS product/service, got the systems in place and running. Then... "oh. so, how do I sell this thing?" hits.

    LOL!

    Search Jason's threads, you need to know how to start your calls, setup a 20 second minimercial that you can consistently deliver to start conversations. Figure out the problems associated with your target niche market and incorporate that into your initial introduction as well as attach $ value to those pain points in your pitch and close.
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  • Profile picture of the author Freebiequeen1999
    Well you don't have to get a car sales job....I was speaking more of a biz to biz sales job...most cities have a coupon mailer or a biz to biz newspaper.....or other biz to biz sales jobs...software, pos products, office systems, loyalty programs, commerical printing etc....look for one that has a sales structure...sales training, sales meetings, etc.

    Or a biz to biz phone room - some sell lead generation or seo or websites or specific niche stuff...like get listed in a directory

    as for the "Bill" analogy....you took it wrong...I am saying that if you want others to sell for you it must be duplicatable. Like...you, as owner, knows it all..may be able to sell..but will others? That is why you need to develop a sales process IMHO

    (regarding the boat analogy - a local magazine a friend worked for did have that sort of problem - the salespeople were up against the bosses son , who used his family assets, boating days, business "lunches" etc to close deals LOL...needless to say she quit - and I guess others did too - magazine has been out of biz a couple years now. The process was not duplicatable and no salesperson wants to compete like that. Make sure you have a process that can be duplicated)
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  • Profile picture of the author ardiejarelle
    Based on my experience when I was into sellings stuffs which normally softwares and websites for the past couple of years. There are only few things that I can say:

    Master the product that you are selling
    Answer all the questions of you client
    Encourage him to buy for telling him all the advantages
    and most of all, clients/customers wants to know how you will handle the after sales/support which is very important.
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