Selling: Where Marketing Meets the Customer

Determining when the prospect is ready to buy (your opportunity to close) is an important part of the selling process, and comes by way of both verbal and nonverbal signals. By carefully tuning in to the customer, the salesperson can identify when it is time to close. Detecting verbal buying signals is one of the easiest ways to gauge the customer’s readiness for the close. For example, after the customer agrees on a key benefit, after you handle an important objection well, or when the customer asks about the warranty, you know it’s time to begin your closing. When the prospect has sufficient information to make an informed decision, CLOSE!

Nonverbal buying signals also provide insight into understanding where the customer stands in the buying process. Behaviors such as frequent eye contact, smiling, sitting up and leaning forward, an enthusiastic tone of voice, and making calculations or notes all help indicate the customer’s level of interest. When the customer is demonstrating interest and an eagerness to see the product at work in their business, CLOSE!

A focus on sales and selling can pay off

The four steps that have been discussed lead your prospect logically through the selling process. Probing is the salesperson’s opportunity to shine the spotlight on the customer in order to determine their wants and needs. Communicating features, advantages and benefits is your opportunity to match your product or service to the customer’s needs. Objections reveal specifics about what you must overcome to complete the sale, and anticipating the most common objections allows you to handle them skillfully. Closing means asking for commitment from the prospect to purchase your product/service.

A thorough understanding and incorporation of these steps into your sales calls will enable you to improve your sales effectiveness with your current customers as well as to attract new customers into your business. A key thing to remember is one of Dr. David Downey’s favorite quotes: “Nothing happens until someone sells something!”