Tips For Closing the Sale in Cold Calling
One of the biggest headaches telesales professional get comes from failing to close the deal. Even seasoned representatives sometimes encounter difficulties in this stage of the sales process so you can just imagine the agony that inexperienced telesales people go through in cold calling. It could be very frustrating, especially for those with little or no experience at all in telesales or telemarketing, if they perfectly handled the early stages of the sales process such as building rapport and presenting only to blow away their chances because they are unable to close the sale.
Closing a sale does not have to be so difficult or confusing. The following tips should help you deal with the different closing scenarios and lead the prospect to make a buying decision.
Look for the buying signal.
Always be on the lookout for signs that the customer is ready to buy. One such sign is when customers ask questions features or qualities that they look for in your product or service, such as: "Can I upgrade it to a higher model?", or "How long does it take to be shipped?"
Answer a question with a question.
The best way to respond to questions from prospects is to follow up your answer right away with a question. Do not just give a yes or a no. By having a return question, you take control of the conversation and lead it closer to the sale. If they ask: "Is an upgrade available?" You could follow it up with: "Do you prefer the 2-year or the 3-year extended warranty?"
Help the prospect make decisions.
A technique to facilitate the sales process is to give the prospect options that make decision making easier for them. For instance, you can ask: "Do you want me to help you customize this product or do you prefer to have the base configuration?"
Entice customers with free trials.
Sending out free trials is one of the common strategies employed by businesses and it works most of the time. If people like your free trial, they'll surely crave for more.
Get straight to the point.
Customers will appreciate your efforts if you tell them outright early in the sales call what your purpose is. Don't mince words. Simply tell them what you are offering and what value or benefit they can get from your product or service. Being straightforward should make for an easy close.