The last step of the sales process at the meeting itself is to seek commitment: to ask the prospect if they will buy. This is called ‘closing’.
The Book of the Course!
Sales Skills: A Management Courses Introduction
This book gives a broad introduction to the topic, for managers and professionals who don’t want or intend to specialize in sales and selling. And as a fast start for someone needing to make a start in selling, for whatever reason.
Get the kindle Exclusive book from:
Watching this video is worth 2 Management Courses CPD Points*.
🔎 See below for details
Sales and Selling Skills
This video is part of course module 8.4.1
Program 8: Managing Customers and Clients
Course 4: Sales / Selling Skills
Section 1: The Sales Process
Other videos that describe the Sales Process:
🎬 The Sales Process
LESSON NOTES
There is a three-step process to asking for commitment:
1. Check
2. Summarize
3. Close
Check
Check that you have answered all their questions, concerns, and potential objections.
Summarize
Summarize where you are and where you think your prospect is. If they confirm, make atrial close, with something like ‘does this sound good?’
Close
Expect to close. Choose the right time. Do not hesitate or be timid. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
So, ask, ‘are you ready to commit to this?’
Or ‘Which option would you like to go for?’
And, if you don’t get a ‘yes’, then apply the power of ‘yet’.
Ask, ‘what is stopping you from feeling ready to commit?’ because you weren’t quite ready, and you need to either revert to objection handling, or respect their need for more time.
The single most important thing that a salesperson needs is resilience - the ability to bounce back from disappointment and stay positive.
Once you have a close…
Stop.
Shut up.
Do not say anything more.
You have what you want: a sale. There is a real danger that anything you add after the close can cause problems. It cannot make things better, so, it can only make them worse. It’s called ‘buying back the deal’.
The only things to talk about now are:
• Logistics and organizational arrangements
• Pleasantries and courtesies
Agree what’s next, and you will move straight to the next step. In our next video, I’ll talk about the after-sales step in the sales process.
DOWNLOADS
Free Resources
🧰 CPD Tools -
($3)
RECOMMENDED READING
There are many books that introduce sales and selling. These are the ones I have, and can recommend:
📖 To Sell Is Human
⭕️ Links to our book recommendations are affiliated through Amazon and help support our free videos
Managers Need a Basic set of kit to do your job well. Here are my top recommendations:
(the links are affiliated)
MANAGEMENT COURSES CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD) POINTS
You can record your Management Courses CPD points on our free, downloadable CPD record log.
📓 Download it at:
Each video has two levels of MC CPD points. For this video:
- If you simply watched the video, record 2 MC CPD points
CHAPTER MARKERS
00:00 - The last step in the sales process: Asking for commitment… or ‘closing’
00:20 - ABC - Always Be Closing
01:49 - If you don’t seek commitment…
02:10 - Three-set process for asking for commitment
02:23 - Check
02:34 - Summarize
02:50 - Close
03:14 - The Power of ‘Yet’
03:30 - Why they won’t close
03:49 - The most important this you need
04:10 - Once you have a close…
05:09 - The two things to talk about after the close
#Closing #SalesCommitment #SalesProcess
Daniel Pink: To Sell is Human Daniel Pink is not a salesperson, but a skilled writer who specializes in anecdote-heavy popular business books. Pink believes that, and I quote: ‘Like it or not, we’re all in sales now’. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills: A Management Courses Introduction This book gives a broad introduction
Read More
The Miller Heiman Strategic Selling Methodology Robert Miller and Stephen Heimann were the founders of the hugely successful sales training business, Miller Heiman (no part of Korn Ferry). Their sales methodology focuses on Strategic Selling. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills: A Management Courses Introduction This book gives a broad introduction to the topic,
Read More
Sollution Selling: Neil Rackham’s SPIN Selling Solution selling is all about finding out what the problem is, and offering a solution. And this is at the heart of Neil Rackham’s approach to sales: SPIN Selling. SPIN is an acronym that will guide you through the diagnosis. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills: A Management
Read More
Mary Kay Ash: The Mary Kay Way of Selling Mary Kay Ash started her working career as a salesperson. But, with her multi-billion dollar Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultants business, she innovated her way to the sales stratosphere. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills: A Management Courses Introduction This book gives a broad introduction
Read More
Dale Carnegie: How to Win Friends and Sell to Them When selling, a relationship mindset is vital. And Dale Carnegie tells us how we can make friends with the people who buy. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills: A Management Courses Introduction This book gives a broad introduction to the topic, for managers and
Read More
The Complex Sale: 101 Complex Sales are, by nature… Complex. And that means this is a big topic. In the late 1990s, I went on a 2-day course, so this video is, necessarily, the 101 version of what has stuck with me. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills: A Management Courses Introduction This book
Read More
Sales Optimization: Upselling, Down-selling, and Cross-selling A good salesperson never wants to leave their customer without making the best sale they can. So you need to learn the art of the upsell. And, for that matter, of the cross-sell and the down-sell. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills: A Management Courses Introduction This book
Read More
Account Management: What is Account-based Selling? A lot of business-to-business selling is strategic. It is not a one-off or tactical endeavor. It is likely that you will want to maintain and build your relationships over the months and years to come. Managing this ongoing relationship is called ‘Account Management’. The goal is to win sales
Read More
Pricing and Fear of Price This is a course about sales. And most salespeople have no control over the prices of the products and services they need to sell. So, I am not going to talk about the economics, strategy, or internal politics of setting a price. I want to focus on one ubiquitous phenomenon
Read More
The 1-2-3 of a Successful Written Sales Proposal In many sectors – especially professional services, where I have had my career – sales are often made with the help of a written proposal. And, while this could be a course all on its own, here are a few tips and pointers. The Book of the
Read More
Cold Calling to Get a Sales Appointment In the professional world, cold calling is not about making the sale, but to move you one step closer. And the most frequent first step is to get an appointment. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills: A Management Courses Introduction This book gives a broad introduction to
Read More
You Need a Sales Strategy: Which One? If you want long-term success in anything, you need a strategy. And this is never more so than with sales. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills: A Management Courses Introduction This book gives a broad introduction to the topic, for managers and professionals who don’t want or
Read More
How to Qualify Your Sales Prospects Prospects are the people or organizations that might, one day, buy from you. However, all prospects are not equal. So, we need to assess how likely they are to buy, and if they do, when. That way, we can make intelligent decisions about how much time and resources to
Read More
What is the Sales Funnel? The Sales Funnel is one of the most fundamental concepts in selling. So, in this video, I want to answer the question What is the Sales Funnel? The Book of the Course! Sales Skills: A Management Courses Introduction This book gives a broad introduction to the topic, for managers and
Read More
5 Components of a Powerful Sales Attitude A powerful sales attitude for any salesperson consists of five components. Let’s see what they are. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills: A Management Courses Introduction This book gives a broad introduction to the topic, for managers and professionals who don’t want or intend to specialize in
Read More
Sales Success Tips: Sales Do’s & Don’ts In this video I share an armful of great tips to boost your sales effectiveness. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills: A Management Courses Introduction This book gives a broad introduction to the topic, for managers and professionals who don’t want or intend to specialize in sales
Read More
Master Selling: Why People Do and Don’t Buy People buy for emotional reasons. They may justify their purchase on things like cost, convenience, performance, or sustainability. But, deep down, it’s all about how these things make them feel. Let’s look at the emotions that make people buy, and the things that will stop them. The
Read More
After-Sales Activities [Sales Process Part 9 of 9] The last step in the sales process happens after the sale. But it is important to understand that there are after-sales tasks that, if they get forgotten or are not done well, will compromise the sale you worked so hard to achieve. The Book of the Course!
Read More
Handling Objections to the Sale [Sales Process Part 7 of 9] If you don’t get objections to your sales pitch either you got it just right, or they aren’t interested. Objections are usually a good thing. So, it pays to become adept at handling objections. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills: A Management Courses
Read More
Presenting Solutions [Sales Process Part 6 of 9] The part of the sales process that people think of as ‘selling’ is the step where you present solutions to meet your prospect’s needs. This is what we’ll look at in this video. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills: A Management Courses Introduction Get the kindle
Read More
Diagnosis: Diagnosing the Customer’s Need [Sales Process Part 5 of 9] The first stage of the actual sale part of the sales process is diagnosing what your prospect needs or wants – and understanding which is which. This is the investigation, or diagnosis, stage of the sales process. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills:
Read More
Opening the Sales Meeting [Sales Process Part 4 of 9] You have made a connection with your sales prospect, and you are ready to start selling… But, hold on. Let’s first open the sales process formally, so we all know where we are. This is the Sales Opening. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills:
Read More
Sales Meeting Rapport Building [Sales Process Part 3 of 9] When your sales meeting starts, do not go straight into selling mode. People buy from people, so your first priority is to create some basic human contact. Start (or extend) your relationship with some basic rapport building. The Book of the Course! Sales Skills: A
Read More
Pre-Sales Activities [Sales Process Part 2 of 9] You have prospects, but it would be foolish to dive in and try to sell to them immediately. You need to prepare, and this is where the three pre-sales activities come in. Watching this video is worth 2 Management Courses CPD Points*. 🔎 See below for details
Read More
Sales Prospecting [Sales Process Part 1 of 9] The sales process starts with prospecting. This is how we find potential future customers – or ‘prospects’. Watching this video is worth 2 Management Courses CPD Points*. 🔎 See below for details Sales and Selling Skills This video is part of course module 8.4.1 Program 8: Managing
Read More
The Sales Process – a Summary of the 9 Step Selling Process For some people, the idea of selling is scary, off-putting, even alarming. But, as a manager, you may sometimes be called upon to sell or help sell your organization’s products or services. But don’t worry. There is a straightforward sales process to help
Read More