By: Abby Garcia
Most sales people often think that closing a deal is a ‘one-time’ thing. When the client says ‘yes’ to the proposal, great. Once he says ‘no’, that’s it. Done. Goodbye.
If you’re one of these people, think again. If you want to be better in sales, I will let you in on a secret here – “closing is like courting.”
I have a friend, Iggy, who had proposed to six different girls all throughout college. Like some guys, he was the type which strongly believed in ‘destiny’. He was the “if it is willed, then it will be. If not, better luck next time”-type of guy. In short, he’s the ultimate ‘hopeless romantic’. He used to ask me for advice on how to get the girl he wanted. I am not a ‘love expert’ though, I am a sales person. Although this was the case, his stories, as I observed, were very similar as to how deals are closed successfully. So, here are some of the tips I had given him which you can also apply in sales, or better yet, in love as well:
1) Closing, like courting, is a long and continuous process.
“It does not stop at ‘no’.” Iggy found this idea hard to believe when I first told it to him. As a romantic like him, he thought it would be more painful for him to continue pursuing the girl after being rejected. He thought it was the end, no use hoping for whatsoever. Even when the girl asked to keep being friends, he stayed away from her thinking that it was the best for both of them. I nearly slapped him in the face. What could have been if they still kept in touch? If they stayed as friends, there could have been a higher chance of going more than that!
Now, what does this have to do with sales? Being rejected once does not mean that the deal has ended. It is just the start of a long process. To close the deal, you have to ask the buyer what went wrong, and improve on it. Simple as that. Perhaps he just wasn’t convinced by the time you popped the question. Remember, a buyer carefully analyzes all aspects of the deal before deciding. So, by knowing what was wrong and asking for his suggestions, you can change your strategy and ask again next time. Maybe he changes his answer, too.
2) Attitude matters.
Confidence is the key. After every rejection, Iggy was always devastated. Like any other hopeless romantic, he thought, thinking like a loser, that he would never be able to love again. He had thoughts such as, “I can never find a girl as good as her” or “I think I would not get over it.” Simply put, he was afraid to ask another girl again, fearing rejection.
Unlike Iggy, you as a salesperson needs to be confident to make the deal happen. There are two things which may hinder you from getting the sale; either you’re not confident with yourself, or your product. If you’re not confident with yourself, then maybe sales is not for you. If you’re not confident with your product, know what’s keeping you from being one. When you believe in your product, your customer will believe it also. In both courting and closing, confidence is “irresistible.”
3) Everything is a learning experience.
Going through Iggy’s lovelife, the one thing common to every courtship he had done is that he was very impatient and seemed desperate. The time difference between him meeting and “loving” (or so he says) a girl is too short that he skipped the getting-to-know stage and went straight to courting. Similar to a meal, he jumped straight to the main dish without eating the appetizer. I used to advise him often on that, but he always shrugged it off by saying, “that’s how love goes. I cannot do anything about it.” If he had waited for the right time to propose, wouldn’t he have scored one of those six girls?
In sales, or even life in general, what makes us better is not our successes, but our failures. For every lost deal, we should take this as an opportunity to develop our skills and to strengthen our will. Afterall, closing, like courting, is also part of life.
If you’re one of these people, think again. If you want to be better in sales, I will let you in on a secret here – “closing is like courting.”
I have a friend, Iggy, who had proposed to six different girls all throughout college. Like some guys, he was the type which strongly believed in ‘destiny’. He was the “if it is willed, then it will be. If not, better luck next time”-type of guy. In short, he’s the ultimate ‘hopeless romantic’. He used to ask me for advice on how to get the girl he wanted. I am not a ‘love expert’ though, I am a sales person. Although this was the case, his stories, as I observed, were very similar as to how deals are closed successfully. So, here are some of the tips I had given him which you can also apply in sales, or better yet, in love as well:
1) Closing, like courting, is a long and continuous process.
“It does not stop at ‘no’.” Iggy found this idea hard to believe when I first told it to him. As a romantic like him, he thought it would be more painful for him to continue pursuing the girl after being rejected. He thought it was the end, no use hoping for whatsoever. Even when the girl asked to keep being friends, he stayed away from her thinking that it was the best for both of them. I nearly slapped him in the face. What could have been if they still kept in touch? If they stayed as friends, there could have been a higher chance of going more than that!
Now, what does this have to do with sales? Being rejected once does not mean that the deal has ended. It is just the start of a long process. To close the deal, you have to ask the buyer what went wrong, and improve on it. Simple as that. Perhaps he just wasn’t convinced by the time you popped the question. Remember, a buyer carefully analyzes all aspects of the deal before deciding. So, by knowing what was wrong and asking for his suggestions, you can change your strategy and ask again next time. Maybe he changes his answer, too.
2) Attitude matters.
Confidence is the key. After every rejection, Iggy was always devastated. Like any other hopeless romantic, he thought, thinking like a loser, that he would never be able to love again. He had thoughts such as, “I can never find a girl as good as her” or “I think I would not get over it.” Simply put, he was afraid to ask another girl again, fearing rejection.
Unlike Iggy, you as a salesperson needs to be confident to make the deal happen. There are two things which may hinder you from getting the sale; either you’re not confident with yourself, or your product. If you’re not confident with yourself, then maybe sales is not for you. If you’re not confident with your product, know what’s keeping you from being one. When you believe in your product, your customer will believe it also. In both courting and closing, confidence is “irresistible.”
3) Everything is a learning experience.
Going through Iggy’s lovelife, the one thing common to every courtship he had done is that he was very impatient and seemed desperate. The time difference between him meeting and “loving” (or so he says) a girl is too short that he skipped the getting-to-know stage and went straight to courting. Similar to a meal, he jumped straight to the main dish without eating the appetizer. I used to advise him often on that, but he always shrugged it off by saying, “that’s how love goes. I cannot do anything about it.” If he had waited for the right time to propose, wouldn’t he have scored one of those six girls?
In sales, or even life in general, what makes us better is not our successes, but our failures. For every lost deal, we should take this as an opportunity to develop our skills and to strengthen our will. Afterall, closing, like courting, is also part of life.
Abby Garcia is an account executive at Leadfunnel.ph. While she is an amateur as a blogger, she is an expert as an academic and creative writer. If you have comments, suggestions, and violent reactions, beep her up here: 0917-909-0754!
Learn sales, while entertaining yourself!
Learn sales, while entertaining yourself!
RSS Feed
