8 years ago
February 21, 2017

Top 5 Closing Strategies, and Why They Work

From the urgency close to the assumptive close, learn about the top five closing strategies sales reps need to use and why they work. Keep reading.

Claire McConnachie Recruiter
Claire McConnachie

You might have powerful sales prospecting techniques under your belt. You might be a pro at qualifying leads. You might be pretty great at building rapport and building relationships with your clients. And you might be a social selling all-star. However, if you don’t know how to close effectively, you’re going to have trouble making sales and attaining your quota.

Closing is a critical part of sales. Every other part of the sales process can be seen as wasted time and resources if the deal doesn’t close in the end.

So how can you get better at closing deals? Use these top closing strategies.

1. Urgency Close

The urgency close is one of the oldest closing strategies in the book, but it still works just as effectively today. Perhaps nothing helps sales reps close deals more than time pressure. You can use this closing technique in a few ways. You can create urgency that is based around the customer’s problem and its need to be dealt with right away. You can also use customer demand to not only show how hot your products are, but to point out that the order needs to be placed quickly or all products might be snatched up. Or, you could use the time required to prepare an order for the reason that the order needs to be placed immediately.

Whatever way you choose to use this technique, know that it works because it plays on the fear that customers will feel they are losing out if they wait too long. This is a great technique to use when you’re dealing with hesitant prospects who you know are able and willing to buy. Use it sparingly, though, and only with the right prospects. You don’t want to be known as the pressuring sales guy who rushes everyone.

2. Assumptive Close

In order to use this strategy effectively, you need to have confidence in the conversation that you’ve been having with your prospect. This strategy is based on the idea that you know the client wants to buy and that they likely won’t have any objections if you just pull the trigger with a statement like, “Since we know we’ve found the right solution here, let’s go ahead and set up that shipment for tomorrow.” This strategy works because it takes the decision out of the hands of an indecisive buyer and speeds up the process.

3. Option Close

Again, this is one of those closing strategies that requires you to be confident about the conversation leading up to the sale. The option close would look something like this: “So would you like three or five products in the initial order?”

This strategy works because it only gives the prospect two options—both of which are good for you, and none of which allow them to just flat-out say no.

4. Suggestion Close

You should only use the suggestion close if you’ve worked hard to establish authority and become a subject-matter expert with credibility. This close works if you’re an authoritative figure and buyers respect your insight, because your customers will rely on and trust your expertise in the matter at hand. The suggestion close looks something like this: “Based on what you’ve told me, I would suggest that you start off with five units in the initial order.”

5. Sharp Angle Close

When a customer asks you for a concession, one of the best closing strategies to use is the sharp angle close. When your buyers wants a lower price, additional features, or better delivery options, just tell them that you will do that for themif, and only if,they sign the purchase order today.

The sharp angle close works because your customers gets what they want—the concession—and in return, you get what you want—a closed deal. It also helps eliminate the possibility that the customer will continue asking for more and more concessions if you agree to the first one.

Claire McConnachie Recruiter

Claire McConnachie

Claire has 4+ years of experience in sales and recruitment. As a Director of Client Services, her main objective is to connect great people to great companies by building strong relationships with both top clients and candidates in the sales industry. She specializes in sales roles of all seniority levels for both enterprise and start-up clients North American wide. When Claire isn't networking with top talent, she enjoys being outdoors, traveling and spending time with friends & family.

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