How to close sales in a difficult economic situation and meet your budget at the end of the year?

Although it might seem otherwise, we have a unique opportunity for the sales sector. While companies around the world struggle to achieve their business goals, the unflattering current economic situation may offer unprecedented opportunities to offer a customer service that could never have happened before. How to close sales in a difficult economic situation and meet your budget at the end of the year? David Parras, Managing Director of Sandler Training, experts in innovative solutions tailored to Management and Leadership, offers the following commercial advice to get sales in a difficult economic situation.

1.  Create a sense of urgency. Identify the consequences of the passivity of your customers and keep in mind what the client who does not act can lose. Stop talking about benefits and advantages and focus on the objective value of your product and service in quantitative terms. You must be able to convey the message to your existing and potential customers, offering creative solutions to help them. Some examples of the methods that can be used are to provide discounts at key moments for contracts that are signed at the end of the year, establish a day in which employees can make purchases over the Internet during their office hours or make unique offers for employees. contracts that are signed one day a year are only.

3.  Ask and offer . Often your client does not understand your entire range of products and services. If you have your customers explain what happens in their companies, you can use their knowledge of the products to decide how to offer them and where. Ask for a list listing other future projects of the company, as well as a list of the decisions that are being adopted regarding purchases. This will help you expand the reach of your business.

4.  Promote internal sales . Exploit the sales opportunities in the organizations of your best customers. Ask your client for the names of people who work in other departments of your company and those responsible for purchases and projects in your area of ​​expertise. Know your client’s expectations for next year and how much business they have provided so far. Then I asked, “Considering the time of the year we are in and the projects that are underway internally, how do you think we are going to be at the end of the year?” What other additional business could be involved? “Write down the figure and use it to plan sales and check if the reality corresponds with the figures in your accounting plan.

5.  Take your client to lunch. Invite your client to eat to thank you for your business, it will undoubtedly be the right time to show your appreciation. Let your client know that you are an important part of your business and that you will fight to maintain your relationship. Review the history of your account and let the client explain your version. As an example, Sandler’s Sales System suggests engaging in dialogue starting with questions such as: How long have they been doing business together? What level of satisfaction does the client show with their services? According to the client, how could he improve his services and in what aspects? Would the client be willing to write a letter of recommendation ?. The best commercials have a book of letters of recommendation. Instead of continuing the sales cycle by having a potential customer call an existing customer, You can present your book with letters of recommendation for immediate examination. A letter of recommendation gives your client the opportunity to express their opinions and impressions on paper. And if your client has problems expressing his opinion or impression in writing, he can help you in drafting the letter.

6.  Stop “closing” sales and start new business relationships. Learn from your own commercial efforts and you will win. What does it mean to close a sale? (Where does this expression come from?) What is closing? In some situations, the term “close” implies ending. When you close a file, you’re done with it. When you close a checking account, it ceases to exist. When a detective closes a case, there is no case … mystery solved. In other situations, “closing” means a barrier or insulator. When you close a door, you isolate what is on the other side, when you close the lid of a jar, you can not remove the contents and in the same way when you close the covers of a book, you can not read the words it contains. So, what does it mean to close a sale? Does it mean that one has finished with the client? Does it mean closing a door, close to new opportunities? We hope the answer is “no”. Give up the idea that closing means completing an activity and thinking that closing is actually starting: to start a new business relationship. Here are some suggestions.

7.  Post-closing service . Find out if there are other departments or sections in your new client’s company that can use the product or service you just sold and ask for the name of the contact person / s. Ask your new client to indicate other companies that in your opinion could benefit from the product or service you just sold. If your company offers additional products or services that can benefit your new client, inform him at the time, detect his interest and make an appointment to talk about it. Show your interest in getting to know the heads of the company if you have not done so yet.