Closing the Sale 

Promoting your product or service will bring you prospects.  It is then your responsibility
to close the sale.  In Tom Hopkin’s book, How to Master the Art of Selling, he states
that professionals in sales never gives the impression they are pushing the prospect
to buy, for the simple reason that they never push for a sale, they lead to one.  If what
you are marketing does not make a difference in the prospect’s life, you have the wrong
prospect.  Don’t sell what you want to sell; sell what the buyer needs or wants to buy. 

The most powerful sales technique you have is a SMILE:

Show More Interest & Less Ego.
The second best technique is to listen.  We were born with two ears and one mouth.
We should use them accordingly – listen twice as much as we speak.

The basic steps for selling are:

1.         Prospecting

2.         Making contact

3.        Qualifying the prospect

4.         Presenting your product/service

5.         Handling objections

6.         Closing the sale

7.         Asking for referrals

Prospecting means listening to what others say to determine whether they
have a need for what you have to offer.  As a business owner, you learn to
control a conversation – not manipulate – but control.  When people first
meet they have a tendency to mirror questions.  For example, if someone
asks "do you have children?" you will most likely answer the question and
then ask them the same one.  When you are trying to determine if you are
talking to a potential prospect, there are several areas of a person’s life
that might give you the answer to your question. The best way to remember
the areas to question are with the word FORM: 
Family, Organizations, Recreation, and Money (or what do they do to make
money). If you ask questions in these areas, you should be able to recognize a need
if there is one.  Sample questions in each area might be:

Family:

Do you have children?

Do you live in this area?

Where are you from?

Organizations:

Do you work out?

Do you have a church family?

Do you belong to ________? (You fill in the blank for your area)

Recreation:

What do you like to do?

Have you been skiing (biking, boating, etc…) yet this year?

Money:

What do you do?

What is your profession?

Create your own set of questions that will give you the answers
you need regarding the product/service you have to offer.

If you have something good to offer, you have an obligation to
offer it to someone who needs it.  Come up with a thirty-second
overview of what you do: not an elevator pitch, not a sales promotion.
What you are looking for is thirty-seconds of information that will
allow a person to say to themselves, "I might need this product/service". 
For example, my thirty-second overview would be:

I help people get started in business through face-to-face and online
classes or through one-on-one counseling, and then help them to grow
through leadership, marketing, sales, and financial training.
Once you have given your overview,
you will receive one of two responses: either the prospect will say
something along the lines of "that's nice", meaning they are not a
potential customer; or they will ask a question to get further information,
meaning you need to follow up.
The question they most often ask is "how much does that cost?"
Your response to that question is, "Give me your business card and
I will get back with you on that." This then gives you the opportunity to
ask questions that will give you the information you need to determine
if this is a solid prospect.  Sales can be thrilling if you are helping
others meet their needs and wants. 

If you tell someone what you do and their response is, in essence,
“that’s nice”, talking to them all day long about what you do will not
create a sale.  However, if they ask any question at all, this is an
opportunity to get a business card (or contact information) so you can
get back with them.  In most cases, you do not want to go into detail about
your opportunity unless you are in a position where you have their full attention.

Use your business card to get a business card. Giving cards away unsolicited
is a waste of time and money.  When you ask someone for a business card
and they do not have one, pull out yours and have them put their contact
information on the back. Then when they return it, you give them one of your
cards to remind them of the connection. Make a note for yourself to remind
you of where you met them.

Always follow up with a contact within 48 hours.  Otherwise, you will probably
lose the sale.  If what you have is something they really want, they will find a way
to get it elsewhere if you don't call back.

When you present what you have to a potential, qualified prospect, be sure to
use the information you have gathered in your original conversations to connect
the benefits of your product or service to their needs.  Ask lots of questions that
lead the prospect to making the decision most beneficial to them.  When
discussing a purchase give the prospect an opportunity to buy.  No one wants to
be sold; we all want to buy.  Just as a reminder, change your language from
“I sold” to “they bought” when discussing your customers with anyone.

Once you have a customer that is the time to ask them to help a friend by
giving you referrals to others who may also benefit from what you have to offer.

There was a time when being a "salesman" had a bad connotation. That came
about by people in sales caring more about the fee they would receive than the
benefit to the customer. However, there is no more honorable profession than
one that helps others to obtain what they need. Sales can be one of the
highest-paying professions in the world when the customer comes first.
Go forth and close the sale!