Now I gotta tell you, up-front, I don’t believe in all the hype surrounding “Closing Questions.”
And although it sounds awesome and people get really excited about learning “how to close…” it’s really not where the magic is.
See, the magic starts the moment you greet your new prospect. And it builds as you progress through the steps of greet, qualify, invite, handle objections, following up (yes, I did say follow-up), and close.
In fact, “the close” is the least of your worries. Yes, you read that right.
Let me explain…
“The close” is just a natural progression of events – it’s expected. For example, Just like at the end of a lunch date. You might say something like “so are you free Friday night.” It’s expected. It sounds natural. Zero pressure. It’s just the natural next step of wanting to continue the relationship further.
Now here’s where the magic really is…
If you take the time to be sincerely interested in the person you are talking to (you learn what they want or don’t want) and that person truly believes you have their best interests in mind, the only real road-block should be (assuming your business is a fit for them)…is if they are looking for an opportunity RIGHT NOW!
Now having said all that, you still have to ask for ask for a decision. (ie. “the close”)
And although you really can’t say the wrong thing here, I found some great advice on how to nudge the person into making a decision NOW, rather than later.
So let me as ask you, now that you know “the close” is just a casual yet necessary next step of continuing the relationship with your prospect, are you ready to learn the 6 closing questions you can start using right now to get a ‘yes’, sooner? (get it)
Ok, let’s dig in…
I found these 6 questions from Mark Harbert over at MarkHarbert.com Mark is well known in the home based business industry and spends his days teaching business owners how to get more leads and sales for their business.
So rest assured, these questions are “tried & true.”
6 Questions to Close More Sales & Get More Sign-Ups – Today!
Rember, no pressure! Don’t get all choked up when it’s time for “the close.”
Question #1: “What did you like BEST about what you just saw (or heard)?”
This is a powerful question.
Rahter than saying “So what did you think about what you just saw?”
“Do you notice that you find yourself getting nervous and almost cringing while waiting for the answer? That’s because you’ve just asked a question that could get a negative response you don’t like.”
Asking this question forces your prospect into focusing on what was “positive” and eliminates anything negative they would of said instead.
“And the best part…their answer will tell you where to focus the rest of the conversation. If they like the idea of residual income for instance, you can really turn up the heat in that direction. If time freedom is their main concern, you can spell out all the great benefits of achieving that.
You get the idea.”
Question #2: “On a scale of 1 to 10, how interested are you in [Your Product or Opportunity].”
“Most people will try to guess at the interest their prospect has instead why not just eliminate the whole guessing game and just ask?
When you do, you’ll notice that you get a lot of mid number answers. 5’s, 6’s, 7’s etc. Safe middle of the road type answers.
This is good, because now after question #1, and knowing exactly where they stand, and with question #2, you know exactly how to steer the conversation and which hot buttons to push.”
Question #3: “Based on what you know now… how much money would you need to make per month for this to be worth your time?”
Avoid telling people how much money they can make. The same amount of money can mean one thing to one person and a differnt thing to another. (you can give an amount and that person could simply think “that’s impossible, that’s not for me”)
“If you ask them what their goals are, you can just show them how that’s possible, and how you can help them get there!
Question #4: “How many hours would you be willing to commit to your business to reach your monthly income goal?”
This is how you gauge commitment/reality.
“The other great thing about this question is that you’re letting them commit verbally to what they’ll do. Commitment is a huge factor in persuasion. A person who commits to something verbally to something will do more to stay consistent in that commitment.”
It’s human nature.
Most people will tell their prospect how much they must be willing to do. This can cause resistance.
If they happen to give an answer that doesn’t match their goals, then you can simply adjust either the hours they’d be willing to commit to or their expected income goals.”
Question #5: “How many months can you commit to working this amount of hours?”
“There are a couple of important things here with this question.
First of all, when they give you a time-frame, you can let them know right away whether or not that‘s realistic. Also, you can once again gauge their seriousness.”
This question ties down commitment and makes is appear as a real opportunity.
Question #6: “If I Could Show You How to Build an Income of _______, working _______hours per a week over the course of _______ months, would you be ready to get started today?”
“Basically, you’re simply reiterating what they told you their dreams were, and you’re telling them that you can help them get it.
Remember they already committed to this verbally at this point, now it’s just time to get them to ACTUALLY commit by putting their money where their mouth is. The fact that you went through the questions above, your chances are greater than if you didn’t.”
In fact, you could likely be able to quickly increase your closing rate by 10X or more just by switching to this closing technique starting with your next presentation.
**quotes taken from Mark Harbert. You can see the full post by clicking the link below**
via Closing the Sale: 6 Questions to Close More Sales and Sign-Ups TODAY!
Now It’s your turn! Get out there and “Ask For The Next Step” Keep practicing and soon it will all flow naturally out of your mouth (as expected)
Thank you for checking out this post! I hope it will help you “close” more reps into your biz.
Randy
P.S. If you’d like to get some practice prospecting on social media I reserved a free training for you so you can get all the practice you need…and hopefully a few more sales and signups:) Get it here: Free Social Media Leads Training
