Stop Closing and Start Selling

The traditional advice for salespeople to focus on the “close” doesn’t translate well to selling consulting services.

Many sales experts imply that unless we’re always working toward the close, we’re just one step away from professional meltdown. With most clients, though, you’ll have far more success if you let them buy from you, instead of trying to sell them something.

Traditional selling, which includes “reeling in” the buyer, falls flat if the client doesn't “own” the proposed results. If you ask for the sale before a client has taken ownership for the outcome and approach of the project, you risk losing the sale.

Instead, try less closing and more active listening. At some point, the client will transition from simply understanding the proposed solution to actually owning it.

Successful selling means working alongside clients, at their pace, to create a shared vision and ownership for results. Selling is not about you creating an artificial milestone called the close, but rather it’s a natural process that results in mutual agreement about what’s best for the client.

Have a look at the complete article, called Stop Closing and Start Selling, in the February 2006 issue of The Guerrilla Consultant.
 

Comments

[Steven A. Harold]

I certainly can support the view in the service industry about letting the client buy from you, rather than trying to sell. In fact I have noticed that the less you try and sell, in effect steeping back and giving the client room, the more the client comes towards you and buys.