Written by: Ed McDonough, Founder, ECE Marketing Services
If you sell products and services to other businesses, this maybe the most important article you review this year.
As a marketing agency owner since 2009, I've interacted with thousands of business owners and during that time I've discovered an underlying secret to quickly and easily closing clients:
When offering your products and services, if you allow people to logically make their own 'buying' decision, 3 amazing things happen:
1 - They become an advocate for your business... and because they 'made' the purchase, they want other people to join them, so they will openly promote you, your business, and what they purchased from you.
2 - They have a deeper level of trust in you because you didn't 'push' them into buying.
And because of that...3 - You become 'their' trusted advisor and in turn, they will become a faithful long-term client.
And after all, isn't that what you really want?
Clients who put their trust in you because they want to build a long-term business relationship?
For me, pitching and closing my services didn't come easy. It's why I became a life-long student of marketing and learning the psychology of sales and what makes people buy... You see, the better the job you do in your marketing message, the easier it is to make a sale.
But even with that, I always hated using a pushy option-close which forced people to make a decision when they weren't ready.
However, when I discovered how to guide people towards making the 'buying' decision on their own, everything changed. Not only did my close rate go up, but my clients started to stick to me like glue.
Here is the Non-Salesy 5 Question Close I use to do it...
Five Simple Questions
(and why the work so well)
Q1 - Where are you now?
The purpose of this question is twofold.
First, you want the prospect to set a baseline in their mind of where they are today (the starting point) so you both have a place to measure against.
If you don't start here, it will be hard to get them to realize (on their own) that they need your help.
Second, you want to determine if this person is someone you can actually help. If they are not, better to move on now than waste any more time.
Q2 - Where do you want to be?
Next, we want to set the endpoint by determining what their goals is.
Many times we push our goal (the outcome we want of them) on the prospect, however more often than not, it's not what they want, or the way they see themselves getting to their goal.
To have someone make an internal buying decision, everything has to be presented from their point of view, not yours.
The key here is to have them internalize their goal by stating it in their own words.
Now that you're clear on the start and end points, the next task is to determine the timeframe.
Q3 - How soon do you want to get there?
By getting the person to openly state when they want to reach their goal, it once again internalizes it for them.
In addition, subconsciously you're building a mini-plan in the person's mind because they now have a clear goal and end point to focus on.
Knowing their timeframe will also help you determine whether or not they are a good fit for your products and services.
Now it's time to make the emotional connection.
Q4 - What do you think is keeping you from getting there?
This is the most amazing question out of the five because many times it will reveal not only the underlying frustration they are experiencing, but also many other issues they believe are causing them to struggle in their business.
This is where the real magic of the five questions takes place. At this point it's very important to become an excellent active listener and absorb all you can.
Q5 - Would you like my help getting there?
Now that you know the sources of the prospect's frustration, the next step is to position your products and services as the solution to their issues.
Here you want to relate the solution you provide to the pain they are experience by stating how you can help them.
Once the solution is presented, you simply ask: Would you like my help implementing this?
If you've done your job correctly, you'll hear YES more often than not.
In the End...
The Non-Salesy 5 Question Close became the key game-changer for me; allowing me to make more sales, more often and with greater ease.
With that said, it does take a bit of practice to master. What's presented in this article is a high-level overview which you should practice and refine for your specific needs.
My hope is it helps you, help your potential clients see that you are the right person to work with.
Please let me know how you make out.
Should You Take the 5 Question Close Deep Dive???
For many, what you've learned here today may be enough to get you on the path to closing more deals by allowing people to make their own internal buying decision.
But, for those of you who are like me, and really want to take this to the next level and increase your sales at a rapid rate, I've created an in-depth follow-up video training.
In the 5 Question Close Deep Dive Video Course you'll learn how to use specific Socratic questioning to dig deeper and get even better results with each of the 5 questions.
You'll get immediate access to the additional 'probing' and 'awareness' questions I use to get the prospect to emotionally connect to the answers from each question... driving them to make an internal decision even faster.
I'll also share the little known 'consequence' question to get your prospects to further solidify that you are the person who can help them right now.
You'll also learn my secret for using the Non-Salesy 5 Question Close when networking in-person at an event, seminar or trade show.
To take your closing skills to the next level and make more sales in less time:
If really want to take closing to the next level and increase your sales at a rapid rate...
Check out the 5 Question Close Deep Dive video course...
You'll get immediate access to the additional 'probing' and 'awareness' questions along with the 'consequence' question which gets your prospects to choose you on the spot.
To take your closing skills to the next level and make more sales in less time:
Take the DEEP DIVE
If you sell products and services to other businesses, this maybe the most important article you review this year.
As a marketing agency owner since 2009, I've interacted with thousands of business owners and during that time I've discovered an underlying secret to quickly and easily closing clients:
When offering your products and services, if you allow people to logically make their own 'buying' decision, 3 amazing things happen:
1 - They become an advocate for your business... and because they 'made' the purchase, they want other people to join them, so they will openly promote you, your business, and what they purchased from you.
2 - They have a deeper level of trust in you because you didn't 'push' them into buying.
And because of that...
3 - You become 'their' trusted advisor and in turn, they will become a faithful long-term client.
And after all, isn't that what you really want?
Clients who put their trust in you because they want to build a long-term business relationship?
For me, pitching and closing my services didn't come easy. It's why I became a life-long student of marketing and learning the psychology of sales and what makes people buy... You see, the better the job you do in your marketing message, the easier it is to make a sale.
But even with that, I always hated using a pushy option-close which forced people to make a decision when they weren't ready.
However, when I discovered how to guide people towards making the 'buying' decision on their own, everything changed. Not only did my close rate go up, but my clients started to stick to me like glue.
Here is the Non-Salesy 5 Question Close I use to do it...