How to close a sale in business

There are lots of things you need to be good at to run a successful business. One of the most important skills, though, is being able to sell things to people. Selling is the core concept at the heart of any business, so without the ability to close a sale, you may struggle to keep your business running.

To ‘close’ a sale means confirming that your client will buy the product you’re selling. There are many different techniques that you can use during a sales pitch, but we’ve listed a few of the most useful. In this article, we’ll look at how to:

• Focus on problem-solving
• Build a relationship
• Being friendly (but not too friendly)
• Sweeten the deal
• Know your product
• Manage your sale revenue with Countingup

It’s important to find a focus when you’re trying to sell a product. You might focus on the benefits of your product or the trustworthiness of your business. If you’re looking to improve your sales technique, one of the best things to focus on is your customers’ needs.

This requires you to know a lot about your potential customers and a lot about your product, so make sure you research both thoroughly before any sale. Research the problems your target market faces in general to be able to discuss the benefits at length.

When it comes to finding out about the problems of a specific customer, simply have a conversation with them during your sales process, and encourage them to talk about their particular issues. At this point, you can respond with the many ways your product can solve those problems, which will hopefully lead to a closed sale.

Knowledge is a powerful tool when it comes to closing sales. The better you know your customer, the more likely it is that you’ll close the sale. 

Although building a relationship might sound like it takes a long time, talented salespeople can form a fairly strong bond with a client during a single conversation. One of the best ways to do this is by asking plenty of questions. Not only will the customer appreciate that you’re taking an interest in them, but you’ll also learn a lot about their situation and how your product can help them. This information can then be used to convince them to make a purchase.

If your clients are groups or organisations instead of individuals, the biggest benefit building a relationship can bring is that it allows you to identify the decision-maker within your potential client. The decision-maker is the person who has the purchasing influence in the client business, and potentially has individuals who report to them to get permission to close sales. Once you identify this person, focus your energy on appealing to them. It will stand you in good stead for when the time comes to close the sale.

It’s important to remember that, although the end goal is closing your sale, making a sales pitch is essentially just a conversation. That means that to make the best impression, you should be conversational and friendly when you speak to the prospective customer. If you make the right impression, not only will you close the sale, but your customer might also mention you to their contacts. This is an excellent way to generate new sales leads.

It’s also vital not to act superior in any way when speaking to the customer. Many salespeople can fall into this habit, especially when dealing with a customer from outside your particular industry. The important thing to remember is that you’re there to help the customer, so even if you know more than them about the subject, you need to be interested in their opinion and experiences.

However, there is such a thing as being too friendly. Take care to remain professional and not overstep your bounds during the sales pitch. Also, be open-minded and try not to take any comments regarding your business or product personally. Most of the time, negative comments can be used constructively, and could improve how you do business.

Making retail and ecommerce sales is more about making the product attractive than having a good sales pitch, but there are still tips from those industries that you can use to close a sale. The one we’ll look at is the use of discounts and promotions.

If you’re struggling to close a sale, you might consider offering the potential customer certain benefits in addition to the product itself so that they’re more inclined to make a purchase. These benefits could be anything from reduced prices to free bonuses or faster delivery. Ecommerce websites offer these sorts of benefits all the time in order to boost their sales. 

The difference in your business is that when you’re dealing with a potential customer, it’s best to only offer these benefits in exchange for a promise from the customer. This should be something more than getting them to agree to a purchase — try to get them to sign the deal that day or order your products in bulk. One of the key strengths of this technique is that not only does it help with closing sales, but it also makes the sales themselves more valuable.

When you start closing more sales and achieving more of your sales goals, your business will start making more money. It’s important to manage this money carefully, so consider using financial software like the Countingup app to help with your financial admin.

Countingup is the business current account with built-in accounting software that allows you to manage all your financial data in one place. With features like automatic expense categorisation, invoicing on the go, receipt capture tools, tax estimates, and cash flow insights, you can confidently keep on top of your business finances wherever you are. 

You can also share your bookkeeping with your accountant instantly without worrying about duplication errors, data lags or inaccuracies. Seamless, simple, and straightforward! 

Find out more here.