Strategy and tactics: when to ask for the sale

Today we’ll share secrets about how to ask for the sale at the appropriate time during the sales process. Contrary to popular belief, the secret to successful sales isn’t necessarily the close. While asking for business is an important step, sales is a process that requires careful strategic planning, as well as a succinct tactical approach. 

The strategy is the overall plan to develop your business and gain new customers, while the tactics are the specific steps you take within the strategy to walk your prospect through the sales process. The close should be a natural next step in the sales process, not a question you ask your prospect out of the blue, such as, “Are you ready to place your order?” Here are a couple of ideas to consider when walking your customers through the sales process so that closing the business is seamless, and the natural next step.

Moving through the sales process

A philosophy the BlitzMasters live by is: “The purpose of a meeting is to get another meeting.” In other words, the purpose of a meeting is not necessarily to close the business (unless you’re in a business where a one-call-close is common). If your business is like most, it will require more than one meeting as well as other forms of communication, such as phone conversations, email exchanges, and other written correspondence before you actually close the sale. By ending the first meeting with agreeing to the next step with your prospect, you are ensuring that the prospect is willing to move through the sales process WITH you. Another key factor at the end of the first meeting after agreeing to the follow-up step, is to ask your prospect for a commitment to respond when you follow up. 

Asking for follow-up the right way

How many times have prospects asked you to follow up, and when you do they don’t respond to you? Maddening isn’t it? If the answer to doing business together is “no,” it’s better to know that sooner than later so more time isn’t wasted following up with someone who isn’t really a prospect anyway. 

One way to ensure that your prospects will respond to you when you follow up is to give them an out if they decide not to do business with you. To do this, after you’ve agreed to the next follow-up step, say something like, “Can I ask you a favor? When I follow up with you in two weeks, if for some reason you’ve decided not to proceed, will you please let me know? There’s a saying in sales that a ‘fast no’ is better than a ‘slow no,’ and if you’ve decided to go another way, that’s okay! Just let me know so I won’t waste your time or mine.”

Sounds a little bold, we know. But most prospects will respond positively to this for two main reasons:

1. It gives them the out they need if they decide to go with another solution.

2. It shows your prospect that you are a busy professional, and you don’t want to waste anyone’s time. 

This technique also works well because suddenly you are not a desperate salesperson, but rather a confident consultant who has something of value to offer. 

We’ve found it necessary to practice this technique over the years when coming across prospects who are just too nice to say “no!” As much as we hate to hear “no,” if the answer is going to be “no,” you’d rather know early on in the process so that you don’t waste time working with a prospect who will never become a customer anyway. The funny thing is, oftentimes when using this technique you will not hear “no,” and you’ll actually end up closing the sale. We can all agree that a “fast no” is better than a “slow no,” but a “yes” is even better!

Practice the sales process with a sales enablement workshop

Enjoying these tips from the BlitzMasters Knowledge Center? If your sales team or channel partners are ready to leverage sales expertise and succeed, book a BlitzMasters sales enablement workshop today. BlitzMasters empowers, trains, and facilitates sales reps through call blitzes that gain immediate appointments. Our analytics tracking tool allows both the channel marketer and the channel partner to see performance in real-time, along with detailed reports to show ROI. Contact BlitzMasters today to learn more!