10 Ways to Shorten the Sales Cycle

1. Get Better Prospects: Analyze your past wins to isolate the characteristics present in short sales cycles. Then find new prospects who have many of these same characteristics.
2. Better Qualify Each Prospect to ensure she has a compelling need and that your firm is a good fit
3. Ask Better Questions: Uncovering decision makers, buying processes and potential obstacles early on will often result in shorten sales cycles.
4. Pre-plan Each Sales Call: Pre-planned calls often lead to more prospect commitments and higher closing rates.
5. Focus on Value: Present a value proposition that shows the prospect that waiting or delaying a decision can cost them a lot of money
6. Sell High: Selling to decision makers generally yields quicker sales and lower price sensitivity!
7. Be Strategic: Creating an account capture plan that helps clients achieve their strategic goals is a proven method for shortening sales cycles.
8. Enlist Inside Help: Getting a “champion” within the prospect firm will maximize your sales effectiveness while shortening decision time frames.
9. Focus on the Business Case: Prospects who can easily cost-justify your solution buy more quickly than those who can’t.
10. Magnify Urgency: Tap into and strengthen the prospect’s sense of urgency in order to make the purchase a priority.

Indeed, compressed sales cycles free up selling time and allow reps to handle more opportunities and boost their results. Since extended sales cycles lead to lower closing rates and wasted time, salespeople and managers alike should aggressively implement techniques proven to shorten them!

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Closing Sales – Classical Approaches Fail

During dinner, the phone rings and it’s a call from someone soliciting donations for the Fraternal Order of Police. The next day, a high school student. working on closing sales for a magazine contest, rings your doorbell.  And then at work, a salesperson tries the “alternate choice” close on you (“would you like to order this using a company check or a credit card?”). Feeling pushed and annoyed, you bark, “I didn’t even say I’ll order that sir. I think our meeting is over!”

Yes, we live in a world of salesperson-initiated interruptions. When on top of an interruption we feel pushed by salespeople intent on closing sales, we naturally resist.

Since consumers and businesses typically have lots of vendors to choose from, they are becoming less tolerant of pushy salespeople. Increasingly, people are buying from polite, respectful sales professionals rather than the aggressive fast talkers intent on closing sales. As it is said, “people want to buy, but no one wants to be sold!”

Sales Closing Techniques Negatively Correlated to Results

In an exhaustive research study undertaken by a team of industrial psychologists, there was a negative correlation between salespeople who were focused on closing sales and the number of customers who were actually closed! Salespeople found to be highly concerned with “getting the sale” actually performed worse than those highly concerned with “solving customer problems.” In the study, the group of strong “closers” got more objections than the “soft” closers.  This high number of objections was correlated to inferior sales closing rates.

In some industries, like auto and insurance sales, the focus on closing sales has historically been high. But even in these industries, different approaches and newer techniques are being used in closing sales.    Without a doubt, prospects know when they’re being “closed” and may feel manipulated or resentful.  Hence, a new breed of sales closing techniques, which we term as “soft closes,” is gaining traction and yielding superior results.

As a sales training organization, we often get requests for training on closing sales. However, many of the companies that want this type of training are under the impression that stronger closing behaviors will increase sales. While “asking for the order” is always important, assertive closing behaviors are simply a turn off for many. The use of well-known sales closing techniques, like the alternate-choice close, the assumed close and the 3-Yes close, are examples are assertive techniques that lowered overall success rates. It is for this very reason that salespeople need to learn newer, more effective techniques for closing sales and generating repeat business.

Clearly, customers want to buy, not be “sold.” The top 10% of all salespeople spend a disproportionate amount of sales time at the beginning of the sales process developing trust and determining needs, motivation and benefits. With this approach, they save time in the sales closing process and achieve a great sales increase.

American companies, who during the last decade spent about 1.5% of their total payroll on employee training, are implementing ambitious programs aimed at improving how their salespeople approach, present to and close new customers. And rather than hire the sales “closer,” many firms now seek a balance of sales and personal qualities that will enamor customers and boost profits.

Effective Strategies for Closing Sales

Are you looking for ways to enhance your sales closing rate and solidify long-term relationships? If so, here are three concepts to incorporate into your sales process:

• Urgency Detection & Financial Justification: Understand, at the beginning of the sales cycle, how not making or delaying a decision to buy will ultimately cost the customer money. For example, a proposed computer system lease that would save a firm $35,000 per month in expenses yet cost only $20,000 per month would produce a $15,000 monthly benefit. So, the cost to the prospect of delaying a purchase decision is about $750 per business day. Remember, if there is no urgency present, you don’t have a qualified prospect. And if there are no compelling financial benefits, you won’t have a very motivated prospect. Without urgency and benefits, attempts at closing sales will often fail.
• Stakeholder Assessment and Contact: Find out who personally loses if a buying decision is delayed or canceled, and make sure you’re in contact with that person. For example, since a VP of Finance’s bonus may be based on net profit, he or she may personally lose bonus dollars when a buying decision is delayed.  Motivated buyers with skin in the game make closing sales relatively easy!
• Objection Prevention: Objections, particularly when they occur late in the selling process, serve to delay the sale and lower sales closing rates. Successful salespeople have well-rehearsed responses to the top 20 objections they receive. Moreover, seasoned sales pros boost their sales closing rates by actively anticipating objections and then using specific techniques to prevent them from occurring.

All Rights Reserved.  The Sales Alliance Inc.  San Diego, CA

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Discounting Sales: Don’t !!!

Customers are trained to asked for sales discounts and negotiate.  Why?  Because salespeople often oblige and fail to realize that the customer already perceives a benefit and wants to maximize value by getting these benefits at a lower price.  And salespeople, hearing repeated price objections, begin to themselves believe that their products and services are not worth the asking price. When we lack 100% confidence and conviction in the value of our solutions, it shows—and the end result is that customers succeed in negotiating sales discounts.  So, what can we do?

1. Quantify the benefits of your product or service to the customer and show the financial savings!  Develop an ROI (Return-On-Investment) worksheet. 
2. Reference other customers who realized savings quickly.  Clip relevant articles that support the benefits and payback of your product or service.
3. Avoid on-the-spot sales discounts as lowering prices can deflates the customer’s perception of the value you offer.  
4. If you do need to provide sales discounts, don’t do it without asking for something in return (e.g. a commit for certain quantities or shorter payment periods).  And if you need to give something to secure the order, consider including additional products or services in order to minimize the financial impact on your firm (e.g. you provide the customer with a $250 service that may only cost your firm $100 to provide).
5. If you have the ability to make concessions, don’t let the customer know, or you’ll invite additional negotiations.
6. If the customer does ask for sales discounts or concessions, determine his or her motivation prior to responding.  In many instances, granting sales discounts or concessions will not resolve the issue and will hurt your chances for the sale.

Possible Customer Motivations for Requesting Sales Discounts

• The customer is not sold and does not believe in the value of your proposal
• S/he is comparing “apples to oranges” and doesn’t understand why your product costs more
• The customer is sold but does not see how the benefits she’ll get justifies the price
• S/he is sold and as a good businessperson is simply trying to see if s/he can get a better price
• S/he is sold but wants a “personal win” (e.g. a “good deal” in order to look good to the boss)

Remember, while it is common for customers to ask for sales discounts and concessions, the best and most skilled salespeople are adept at securing orders by stressing value rather than reducing cost.

  
All Rights Reserved.  The Sales Alliance Inc.  San Diego, CA

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