Episode 356: How To Close Every Sale – The Best Sales Techniques (2024)
In the fast-paced world of sales, it is crucial to pick up on subtle cues that indicate a prospect’s readiness to make a purchase. As Adam Stott emphasizes, failing to recognize these buying signals can result in missed opportunities to close deals effectively.
Adam Stott gives practical advice on how to close every sale and overcoming sales obstacles. He highlights the importance of understanding sales psychology, spotting buying signals, and confidently leading clients to purchase. Adam’s advice on closing conversations, dealing with objections, and guiding clients towards a decision, provides a clear path to more successful deals.
Show Highlights:
- Recognize buying signals from clients to know when to close the deal effectively.
- Overcome objections with confidence and address concerns to move the sales process forward.
- Direct and instruct clients on the next steps to guide them towards completing the purchase.
- Invest in sales training to enhance sales skills, boost confidence, and achieve greater success in closing deals.
- Sales is about problem-solving and offering value to clients, not being pushy or sleazy.
Links Mentioned:
Get your Business Growth Secrets SUCCESS PLANNER for FREE and profit like a pro: https://adamstottplanner.com/free-book47315172
Adam’s website: https://adamstott.com/?el=Pod
Watch the Episode on Adam’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/adamstottcoach?el=Pod
Connect with Adam on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamstottcoach/?el=Pod
Join Adam’s network on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-stott-coach/?el=Pod
Coaches, consultants, and business owners – lower your marketing costs, increase ticket prices, and get more high-ticket clients: https://3daybrandbuilderworkshop.com/start-here?el=Pod
Transcript:
Please note this is a verbatim transcription from the original audio and therefore may include some minor grammatical errors.
[00:00:00] Adam Stott: Sell, sell, sell, sell, sell. That is what this podcast is about today. Having sold over a hundred million pounds worth of products and services. I know a thing or two about this. I’m going to share it with you in this episode. So if you want to sell more, close more, make more money, do more deals. This one’s for you.
[00:00:20] Hope you enjoy.
[00:00:25] Hey everybody, welcome back to business grow secrets. I have got Chris, if you love Chris, make sure to tell us in the comments. Uh, he really appreciates today. We are going to be talking about, um, some questions that come in from the audience and I believe that they’re sales based. So we are going to be talking about selling more, closing more, doing more deals.
[00:00:44] What you
[00:00:44] Chris: got, Chris, this take it away. Absolutely. So this question is from Harrison. Uh, she’s part of our free community. Um, And she says, hi, Adam, I’m stuck where a few clients have told me they are happy about the offer and the price, but then they say they’ll get back to me later. I arrange a follow up call, but it’s canceled.
[00:01:04] How can I change this pattern?
[00:01:06] Adam Stott: She’s getting ghosted. She’s getting ghosted, right? Okay. Well, look, no one likes getting ghosted in any area of life, right? Okay. So we’ve got to work out what’s going wrong here and we’ve got to put that right. So. What we have to do is it’s all about psychology. So if you want to improve your sales, it is all about psychology and it’s about understanding people.
[00:01:28] Now, in the message that you said, you said, uh, they get to the point where they’re having discussions and then it moves on. They’re seemingly happy about the offer and the price. Yeah. Okay. And then they don’t. So, so we look at the psychology could be a number of things, but I’m gonna bring one up, which I think is really important.
[00:01:46] One of the things that we need to do is we do need to close. And the reason that we need to close is because when we are talking to people and they are giving us the buying signals that yes, you know, I want, and I’ll explain some buying signals for people actually, because they’ll probably find that helpful.
[00:02:00] Um, and they’re getting the gist that this person wants to do business, it’s moving forward. And you know, Eventually you get to the point where this conversation ends. Now, the first thing I want to say is whether they buy, do not buy, every conversation closes. Okay. The difference is, is it you that closes it or is it the prospect that closes it?
[00:02:24] Right. Yeah. That’s the reality. So if the prospect closes you. On, you know what, uh, I’m going to go and I’m going to talk to my wife or I’m going to talk to my husband or, uh, I’m going to mull this over. I’m going to, you know, go and check the data points. Whatever you get back, they are closing you on that conviction that that is what they’re going to do.
[00:02:44] And that’s what the path’s going to be. They’ve got the power. Well, they’re making a decision. They’re taking it. They’re closing it. They’re basically closed the conversation. And we don’t want the conversation to close up that we want the conversation with close of right. Okay. Let’s get started. Let’s get you on boarded.
[00:02:57] Let’s get you in the program, whatever it is that we’re doing. We want that person to close with us. So the reason I brought that up is a lot of people say they don’t like closing. They say they hate closing. Well, it’s just natural. And the way that I want people to see closing. Is it is natural is natural step in the right direction and natural move forward, no matter what happens and every conversation closes, it just does it close the way you want or does it close?
[00:03:23] Not the way you want every conversation. I
[00:03:25] Chris: think that’s the key. So every conversation closes, every conversation closes,
[00:03:29] Adam Stott: right? So now we know that we have to understand the psychology. You have to understand the psychology of what happens. So let’s imagine for a moment that you are speaking to somebody that gets excited and you’re talking to him about the product or service and we’re in this place and you picture you having a conversation with someone and, and they’re like, yeah, this sounds great.
[00:03:47] It’s exactly what I need. And yeah, I want to do this business. I want to do this deal. And for whatever reason, You both agree at the natural close of that conversation that they’re going to go away and do some things from that moment. What happens is imagine it’s Sally you’re talking to the lady called Sally and and she goes away and and Sally leaves that conversation feeling great.
[00:04:10] Imagining owning your product or service, and it is in the mood to own your product service. And then she makes a phone call when she gets in a car on the way home. And that phone call she makes is she brings her excitement to the conversation. And she speaks to her husband, Steve. And she says, Oh yeah, I’ve just had this, uh, yeah, great conversation.
[00:04:30] And you know, it’s, it’s, it’s absolutely brilliant. I’m really excited. Steve says, I’ll tell you what, Sally, before you do that, let me speak to it. Andreas, because Andreas knows somebody that does that and then also on Saturday goes, well, okay, I, I don’t want to make the wrong decision. And you know, it’s great.
[00:04:51] Why don’t we hear from Andreas? So Steve sends a message to Andreas and Andreas’s I’ll tell you what, why don’t you tell, tell him. Sally to speak to me on Wednesday. So then Sally goes and has a conversational Wednesday with Andreas. And then Andreas gives her a few tips because he’s got some experience in whatever the product or service was.
[00:05:11] And, and then Sally goes and uses those tips. And, and now you do your follow up call. Sally’s just gone through three, four, five things. And you’re still thinking Sally’s where she was when you had that conversation with her, but she’s not, she’s traveled home in the car. She’s gone and dropped the kids off at school.
[00:05:30] She’s done whatever she had to do. She’s gone out the conversation. All these other things that life has got in the way the world has got in the way. So why am I telling you this? Because what we have to understand is that. If you are getting ghosted, which is the question, it is because you are not closing off those conversations, you are not being fixed enough and you are letting the prospect go back into the ether of the big wide world, the information world, where Sally, your prospect has 8000 choices.
[00:06:04] Now let’s look at this scenario differently. And let’s say Sally said, okay, well, I don’t know whether I should do it. And she was giving you the buying signals. And so what’s the buying signal. Let’s imagine Sally sat opposite you and you’re, you’re in this sales conversation. Sally says to you, okay, well, um, how do we go ahead?
[00:06:21] Ding, ding. That is a buying signal. They want to be closed and you go, okay, well, the way we go ahead is this. And we do this and we do this. And then you don’t close because you’ve had the buying signal. Then Sally goes, okay, how long does it take me to get the result? Ding, ding buying signal. Okay, because Sally’s now future pacing yourself towards the result and you still don’t close and you go, Well, you typically our clients get the results and they do this and they do this and they do that.
[00:06:49] And that’s how he gets the results. And sadly, still begging to be closed and you don’t close up. And then Sally says, Okay, um, and yeah, maybe I should run this by Steve, my husband. And you go, Okay, okay. And what’s this? This is not ding ding. Disobey. You know, what this means is Sally’s now brought an objection up because you didn’t attend attempt to close and we now need to deal with that objection.
[00:07:21] I mean, to hear the objection, say, okay, great. Is Steve involved in the business? Um, you know, Steve, you know, involved in the process. No, not really. All right. I think so. You, why did you want to talk to Steve? Well, I just wanted to have a conversation with him and, you know, I wanted to, you know, get his opinion on it.
[00:07:36] Great. You know, Steve, somebody that usually lifts you up and supports you. There’s somebody that does that. Yeah. Great. All right. Well, let’s get Steve on the phone. Let’s have a conversation with him. Um, what I can do so I can walk him through that process. And then we can close again. Now we’re back to close.
[00:07:50] Now, the bottom line is, we have to know, so while we’re going into this whole conversation, the reason you’re getting ghosted is you’re probably ignoring the buying signals. So you’re not hearing them. You’re not hearing that ding, ding, which is where you should close. So when you get the ding, ding, And Sally says, how do, how do we go ahead?
[00:08:07] How do we go ahead, Chris? You say it’s really easy and simple. What we’ll do is we’ll get the contract. Now we just need to decide, are you paying by credit or debit card? Shall by debit card. Okay, no problem. Let’s get the contract. Now we’ll get you, you signed up and get everything ready. And then what we’ll do is we’ll have a conversation, um, next week, uh, where we sort the onboarding on.
[00:08:27] You’re happy and ready to go ahead. Sally goes, yes, because Sally didn’t really want to speak to Steve. Sally wasn’t being closed. Uh, Sally needed to be instructed.
[00:08:39] Chris: Right. So it’s a, it’s a kind of art of, of, of learning those bind signals and then how to respond to them. Learning bind
[00:08:45] Adam Stott: signals, learning how to overcome objections.
[00:08:48] Objection handling, all of that. But also something that’s incredibly important is people of influence don’t white. They don’t let the person, they actually tell people what to do. They instruct them what to do. Now, it doesn’t mean you’re bossy. It doesn’t mean you’re a bully. It doesn’t mean you’re sleazy.
[00:09:10] It just means that you instruct them. You say, this is the path we can go down to get you. Do it ethically.
[00:09:15] Chris: Yeah. Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah.
[00:09:17] Adam Stott: Because what we’re trying to do, we’re trying to save Sally some time, we’re trying to save Sally getting in the way of things, we’re trying to save Sally finding the information, because as soon as Sally says yes, and she gets into the program or starts working, she can start moving forward with her life and getting the support.
[00:09:33] Now, on the basis that you’re, you’re ethical and you do a good job with your products and services, You should want to sell your product services. You should want to close. So we’re going into lots of different areas. I’m gonna try and wrap this. So the reason people are getting ghosted is because they don’t see the buying signals.
[00:09:48] They don’t ask the closing questions. They don’t overcome the objections. Uh, they allow the client to be in control. Uh, they don’t give directives or directions to the client to close the business. And because of that, because the client is in control, Because the client doesn’t see you as the authority, and because the client has not been directed or instructed by you, they continue their search in the big wide world, and it’s very unlikely because you didn’t show authority, you didn’t show directive, you didn’t show overcoming their concerns, their objective, their objections, it’s very likely that they won’t do business with you.
[00:10:27] So when you have got somebody with you. Look for the buying signals, overcome the objections, give them the opportunity, show them how to close, show them how to do the business with you. And that is how you will move forward and close more deals. Now let’s be frank. Most people have no sales training.
[00:10:48] They’re trying to run a business, never had any sales training. If you’ve never had any sales training and you don’t understand buying signals, you don’t understand how to overcome objections. You don’t understand how to give directions to your clients. You don’t understand how to signpost your clients in the right way.
[00:11:06] If never any training. Then you are going to be in for a torrid time in business because you are going to get rejected. You are going to have conversations with people where they’re in control and you’re not in control. You’re going to feel out of control. You’re not going to be able to create income as easily and readily for your business.
[00:11:28] And the whole thing. So you’re leaving money on the table. So my, my strong advice, listen, I don’t care if you do this with us. I don’t care who you do it with, but I’m telling you every business owner, if you want success needs sales training.
[00:11:45] Chris: So yeah, every single person,
[00:11:47] Adam Stott: everybody needs it. Right. Um, now I’ll give you, let me give you some context.
[00:11:53] I’m just gonna give you some context to that. One of the things that I was lucky is I say lucky, but. When I first started my career, I had a load of menial drops. I mean, working on building sites, horrible, like building sites, getting your hands dirty, being out in the rain, hating life, doing all that. So I hated that.
[00:12:11] Now look, don’t get me wrong, not insulting it. It’s good living, you know, lots of my family do it and they love it. It just wasn’t for me. Right. So it’s not for me. And, um, eventually I got the opportunity to work at a company called powerhouse sending TVs, washing machines, fridge freezers. I never sold a thing in my life.
[00:12:30] And I learned from the age of 19, how to go and talk to people, how to overcome fear, how to overcome rejection, um, how to navigate social situations better. Um, and I, in that ground over the next two years, I got to learn many of the things I had my sales training. Now, many of you had your operational training on the job.
[00:12:53] Many of you had your management training on the job. I just had my sales training on the job. And in that first job, I had two years there. And then I went to Ford and I got more sales training. And then I went to BMW and I got more sales training, you know, and then I started my business and I was able to sell because I’d had a decades worth of sales training, but most people start businesses and they haven’t had any sales training.
[00:13:13] And then I wonder why the FUD comes up. I, um, You know, on the channel, actually, uh, there’s an interview of, uh, me, uh, interviewing Piers Linney, uh, very recently and, and Piers come up, he said, Oh, what’s something awesome, right from Dragon’s Den. Yeah. Yeah. From Dragon’s Den. Great, great interview. And you should watch it, right?
[00:13:30] If you’re watching this really, really good one, maybe you can link it to this video so they can see it. And what Piers said is for a lot of people, yeah. Something comes up and appears. I love this phrase so much. I’m, I’m using it, mate. So if you’re watching that hopefully that’s cool with you. I dropped you a text in it.
[00:13:46] You know, but for a lot of people FUD comes up and what is FUD? FUD is fear, uncertainty and doubt. Now my, Advice to you. My strong advice, if you are a business and you’re wanting to succeed, is you should invest in sales training. It’s my strong advice for every single business owner. Even if you’re good at sales, it will build your confidence.
[00:14:08] It will keep you on track. And it’s something that you should continually be doing in, in, in order. And you should love it. You should enjoy it because you’re, you’re helping people. Sales is not about being sleazy. It’s just about making sure that you solve people’s problems and you give them good value.
[00:14:22] And it’s something that I recommend to can sometimes
[00:14:24] Chris: be a misconception around sales, isn’t there? But it shouldn’t be like that.
[00:14:27] Adam Stott: Massive, massive misconceptions. Uh, and perhaps in the, in the link, you can, uh, maybe send them over to, you know, what we do with Lee. Lee does a lot of sales training. He’s a great guy for us as well.
[00:14:40] So sales is, is super important. Um, hopefully that. Explains to in quite vivid detail actually to get them to imagine like what actually happens to Sally when she lose your business. Yeah, what we do is we were in, you know, something called, um, associated conditioning, disassociated conditioning that when you leave, we’re going deep now.
[00:15:01] Yeah. But when you leave that, that conversation, your, uh, your association is that’s where you and Sally left things. And next time you get back with Sally, that’s what you remember. But what you’ve missed is the, all these things that have happened in the meantime. And, and in the very fast paced, busy world that we live in, people want fast solutions, people want fast results.
[00:15:24] That’s what they want. Um, if you do not close, somebody else will close. Um, and I don’t mean be pushy, but I mean, give directives and show people how they can own your product and service. And obviously we could go so advanced into south stuff, but I think that answers the question. I think so. Yes.
[00:15:39] Chris: So basically what we’re saying is if you keep getting ghosted.
[00:15:42] Well, there’s a few things you need to do. You need to better read the signals. You need to better deal with the objections. Conversations must have a close. And what we’re saying is if it’s not your bag, you must invest in sales training.
[00:15:54] Adam Stott: A hundred percent. Yeah. Don’t let it be your enemy. Turn it into your ally.
[00:15:58] Chris: Yeah.
[00:15:59] Adam Stott: Hopefully you’ve enjoyed today’s episode of a business growth secrets. If you know somebody. struggles with sales, doesn’t like sales, share this episode with them. Go and tell us in the comments, if this has helped you, um, how you’re going to apply this to your business and your game. Um, and if I haven’t met you already in person, I very much look forward to meeting you in person soon.
[00:16:21] Uh, I think we’ll put links in, into this video of maybe you watch the, uh, peers, uh, Lenny episode, which is pretty cool. And I look forward to seeing you very, very soon. I want to say a big thank you for supporting the podcast and drop your comments in, tell us how you enjoying it and what your favorite episode is.
[00:16:36] See you soon.