10 Ways to Accelerate
Closing Your Deals
Are any of the
opportunities in your pipeline stale? Do you have deals that you
thought would close months ago, yet somehow they remain in your
pipeline? Most sales professionals suffer from challenges related to
opportunities that never seem to close, or prospects that just don�t
seem to take that final step. This challenge causes salespeople and
managers to be terminated. It�s so common that many a company has
failed because the supposedly strong pipeline never materialized
into revenue.
Good news ... the
following will help you discover ten ways to accelerate a deal to
close.
10) Aggressive sales
management.
It�s not ideal by any means (and that�s why it ranks at the bottom
of the list) but many a sales manager will proclaim that deals would
never have closed if it weren�t for micro-management. On a more
upbeat note, sales contests and other sales rep incentives fall
under this category, too.
9) Customer incentives.
This too is a bit of a last resort because compressing the sales
cycle by way of a fire sale typically results in reduced
profitability, not to mention the accompanying sales rep frustration
and customer anguish.
8) Gain a bona fide
customer commitment to the timeline.
Granted, the road to frustration is paved with good intentions and
commitments that are not always fulfilled. But galvanizing the key
decision maker(s) to a timeline really does work wonders.
7) Drive consensus of
the management team.
Agreement does not always equate to action but having every
stakeholder nodding �yes� is an important element if your solution
involves a broader decision-making-unit. Solution selling is
complex; this stuff�s chess, not checkers. Not every decision maker
has to agree, but just about any one of them can veto it. Getting
everyone on the same page can be time consuming and costly but it
does lead to agreement and action.
6) Persistent follow-up.
Ah, the basics. Professional, value-based follow-up is magical.
Out-of-sight is out-of-mind; so be tenacious with your best leads
and you�ll reap the rewards of focused activity.
5) Align the solution to
a strategic objective.
Whether it�s at the departmental or corporate level, if your
solution helps the company achieve their stated goals, chances are
it�s closer to the fast lane. Even better, align it to an objective
that is part of the decision maker�s compensation or bonus program.
4) Expose a personal
gain for the key decision maker(s).
It�s important to understand the difference between a professional
objective (see #5 above) and a personal objective. Uncovering the
personal ambitions and desires of the target people is a powerful
method to get the customer to take action.
3) Tie your solution to
a market opportunity of the customer.
This means enabling your customer to provide an increased service
level that will yield your customer (incremental) revenue, or shield
your customer from losing (decremental) a current revenue stream.
2) Demonstrate a strong
return on investment (ROI) supported by customer data.
If the decision maker recognizes that the department or company is
losing money by not implementing the solution, it begins to become a
no-brainer to get moving sooner rather than later.
1) Tie your solution to
a pending regulation or other impending event whenever possible.
Granted this doesn�t affect most solutions. However nothing is more
motivating for a company than an impending event, such as a new
regulatory requirement that forces the company to act by a specific
date.
Whether you�re selling a
product or a service, the reality is that the customer is not buying
a product or a service. The customer is buying a solution to a
problem. Zig Ziglar once talked about Home Depot selling one million
1/4� drill bits per year. Yet none of the customers actually wanted
a 1/4� drill bit, they all wanted 1/4� holes. The same dynamics
applies to your solution.
Kevin Graham, managing
director for Empowered Sales Training, authored �The Top Ten Ways to
Accelerate a Deal to Closure.� EST leverages deep personal
experience, gems from industry icons, classic sales methodologies
and innovative practices to empower sales success. Graham has
qualified for President�s Club status in three Fortune 500
companies, led teams of more than one hundred associates, and
successfully achieved revenue objectives in excess of $1-billion per
annum.
Visit
www.empoweredsalestraining.com for free sales guides, such
as Book More Meetings and Get The Decision Maker On The Phone, or to
take the Empowered Sales Quiz. (The Empowered Sales YouTube channel
offers dozens of free sales videos.)
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