19 Ways to Improve Your Closing Ratios

By Stephan Schiffman


1. Never make a presentation you don’t think will close!

2. If you're finding that, over and over again, you're losing sales because of the same objection--say, that your price is too high--you are probably facing some problem on an organizational level. Take the time to talk to your sales manager about your company's strategies and market position.

3. Once you have made contact by telephone, build your first in-person visit upon your past discussion with that contact. Don't begin from scratch as though you'd never spoken with your contact before! If possible and appropriate, mention some memorable element or remark from the earlier phone conversation. This will move the prospect away from the "it's-time-to- talk-to-some-salesperson" mindset and toward the "this-is-that-interesting-person-from-that-interesting-company" mindset.

4. Don't obsess on a single account. I worked with one woman who boasted that she had visited a single account 33 times before closing. That may sound impressive--but what if the time she spent on that call could have been devoted to prospecting efforts that would have led to two (or, quite possibly, considerably more) sales?

5. Don't try to present during the interview stage. If you haven’t gathered and verified your information, you’re not ready to deliver a proposal.

6. Don't confuse a presentation with a demonstration. The presentation is what you do after you've gotten all the information you need from the prospect during your interviewing stage. A demonstration of your product or service may take place much earlier; it's something you do to elicit interest at an earlier point in the same cycle.

7. Visit the prospect's manufacturing facility or other "real-world" environment.

8. Encourage the prospect to visit your office.

9. Ask key people what they're trying to accomplish in the area in question. (When you do, you will automatically distinguish yourself from your competition.) Don't place too much emphasis on reams of reports, color brochures, or elaborate pie charts and regression analyses. Deluging the prospect with information is a common and costly mistake. As a general rule, prospects will have a hard time forming a positive view of anyone or anything when forced into information overload; salespeople usually ignore this and pile the paper on anyway.

10. When you take notes, take notes! Don't take notes so the prospect will think you're taking notes! (I once met with a telephone system salesperson who asked whether I'd mind if he took notes during our meeting. Of course, I said I had no problem. He pulled out a single crumpled piece of paper and a ragged, chewed-on ballpoint pen. As I told him what we were looking for in our next system, he smiled and nodded and, over the course of the next half hour, wrote down one thing on that piece of paper. He wrote the number eight. That was how many lines there were in our office. What kind of proposal do you think he was able to put together based on notes like that?)

11. Bear in mind that by discussing price during the interviewing stage, you are relieving much of the pressure from the prospect. (For many prospects, you will probably be passing along the extremely valuable information that your service costs less than they think.)

12. Don't place too much trust in media accounts about the objectives of your target company. The media are often wrong. Reading articles or watching television programs may be an important adjunct to your interviewing and verification efforts, but they can't replace them.

13. Remember that you're working with an individual (or with a group of individuals,), not an institution. You represent your company, yes-- but your company isn't making the presentation, you are. Establish a relationship between two people, not two corporate entities. Tell your prospect that you want the business, and why you think there’s a good match.

14. Find out how decisions relating to purchasing your product or service have been made, or how decisions relating to similar purchases have been made. Odds are that the decision about your product or service will be made in essentially the same way. Specifically, if you learn that the decision has in the past always been made by a committee, find a way to make your presentation directly to that committee. Don't waste your time with a single member of the committee if you can possibly avoid it.

15. If you and your prospect face a considerable gap in age or in some other aspect of your professional demeanor--if, for instance, you are a woman in your mid-twenties trying to close a dyed-in-the-wool "good old boy" in his mid-sixties who can't seem to bring himself to treat you as a professional equal--consider making your presentation side by side with another member of your organization. Choose someone who may be able to put your prospect at ease. (This "escalation" technique is also effective when you're dealing with a prospect who needs reassurance that he or she is making the right decision.)

16. Aim high; don't assume you can't make your presentation to the top person in an organization. Even if this person does not make the final decision regarding the product or service you have to offer, he or she can be a powerful ally. Try starting at the top and eliciting "power referrals" from the top people in your target organization.

17. Be ready for common objections and don't be caught off guard by obstacles that are common in your field. (If you think back, you'll probably recall that this has happened to you on a number of occasions. More sales than you might imagine are lost when salespeople are surprised by prospect queries and comments that should really come as no surprise at all.)

18. Before you deliver your proposal, and after you’ve concluded a meeting with your prospect, ask this question as you’re on your way out the door: “Listen – just between you and me, what do you think is going to happen here?”

19. Keep your promises. People remember that kind of thing.

About the Author Stephan Schiffman is the president of D.E.I. Management Group, Inc., one of the largest sales training companies in the U.S. He is the author of a number of best-selling books including Cold Calling Techniques (That Really Work!), and The 25 Sales Skills They Don’t Teach You at Business School. Schiffman’s articles have appeared in many publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and INC. Magazine. He has also appeared as a guest on CNBC’s Minding Your Business, How to Succeed in Business, Smart Money and TCI’s Arlington Business Today. For more information about Schiffman and D.E.I. Management, please call (800) 224-2140. Website: www.dei-sales.com Blog: http://stephanschiffman.blogspot.com/