In addition to the word‐for‐word scripts to the specific objections provided earlier, there are other strategies and techniques that every top producer knows and uses almost intuitively. By learning the following six proven techniques, and weaving them into your closing presentations, you will gain confidence and more control over the selling process. You will also avoid the routine problems other sales reps create, and you will learn even more ways of getting buy‐in throughout your presentation and of persevering to win the sale. As always, don't just read the following techniques, study them, and work to incorporate them into your closing repertoire of skills. The more skillful you get, the easier closing will become, and the more sales and money you will make.

How to Use Tie‐Downs to Build Momentum

I don't know why tie‐downs aren't used more by sales reps selling over the phone. They serve several crucial functions, one of which is getting confirmation that the point you just made was understood and accepted by your prospect. This is especially important when selling over the phone, as you don't have the visual clues that tell you how your pitch is going. Using tie‐downs frequently, however, give you this information and also give you the confidence to move on to the next part of your pitch.

Using tie‐downs is also instrumental in building that all‐important “yes momentum.” If the prospect keeps agreeing with you, then you can feel confident at the end of your pitch in asking for the sale. This eliminates the drama and uncertainty that often accompanies the end of a presentation. Wouldn't you want to know in advance the likely direction a prospect will go when you finally ask for the sale? Tie‐downs scattered throughout your presentation will give you this crucial insight.

Tie‐downs also give your prospect a chance to engage with you, because when you use one you actually have to wait for them to respond. Listening to what a prospect responds with—and how (tone, inflection, pacing) he/she responds—gives you important feedback as to how your presentation is going. Often, if you hear hesitation or boredom or disbelief in your prospect's voice, you can stop your presentation and address it. Doing this keeps you and your prospect in sync and makes it much easier for you to confidently ask for the sale at the end.

Using tie‐downs also gives you control over the flow of the call. I cannot tell you how many sales reps I listen to who get manhandled by prospects who immediately take control of the call by firing questions at them. The sales rep becomes passive, and after the prospect gets all the answers he or she needs, they move to end the call and think about it. This gives all sales reps a sick feeling, and many reps feel used after a call goes this way. It is easy to turn this around—just finish your answer by asking a question of your prospect. Remember, whoever asks a question is in control of the call.

There are many other valuable reasons for using tie‐downs, but let us look at some of the most effective ones now and go over the situations in which they work the best:

Situation 1: Whenever your prospect asks you a buying question (and any question a prospect asks you is a buying question), and you answer it, you must use a tie‐down. For example, if a prospect asks you how much something costs, after you give them the price, you absolutely must use a tie‐down. Any of these work well.

Too Many Options? Narrow It Down to Get the Sale Now

If you sell a product or service with many add‐ons and options or choices, then it is easy for your prospect to get overwhelmed and want to think about it. Many sales reps actually make it harder for buyers to decide because they keep pitching (instead of closing) and so complicate the sale even further. This is called talking past the close, and besides stalling or delaying making a decision, it can also lead to introducing new objections. This is not what you ever want to do.

You want instead to simplify the sale and make it easy for your prospect or customer to buy something now, rather than putting the decision off. Here are some ways you can do that. As always, take some time to customize these to fit your product or service.

Boost Your Sales by Using This One Word

Catchy title, huh? “Boost your sales using just this one word.” Wouldn't it be nice if there was just one magic word that could really increase your sales?

There is!

Before I tell you what it is, though, let me give you a brief background on how I discovered it. Years ago, when I was struggling to make sales, I found a bad pattern had developed in regard to how my sales attempts were ending up. After pitching and pitching, most of my sales were being stalled with some variation of:

“Let me think about it.”

Or

“I'll have to discuss this with my partner”

Or

“Okay, why don't you get back to me in a few weeks?”

Sound familiar? It should. Many sales presentations end this way. After racking my brain for the reason, I finally began listening to how the top closers in my company were closing their sales, and, more important, how they were opening and qualifying their prospects as well.

It turns out they were all using one magic word.

The word was “today.”

And that is when I started using it as well, and it didn't just boost my sales, it catapulted them! In fact, it even had much more impact than that. It also greatly reduced the number of unqualified leads I sent out and spent hours of useless time with.

Here are some examples of how to use this powerful word “today” in both your opening and closing statements.

Ten Ways to Soften the Price Objection and Keep Pitching

Many sales reps get thrown off their pitch when a prospect objects to something early on during the close. For example, when talking about the price of a product or service, if the prospect interrupts and says something like, “Oh, that's way too much,” many sales reps don't know how to respond. Because they are not prepared with a good script, they default to ad‐libbing and this often leads them to say the wrong thing. The wrong thing in this case is to stop and try to overcome the objection.

Instead, it is often wiser to retain control of the call by acknowledging the objection and then continuing with your presentation. Doing so not only keeps you in control of the direction of the call, but it also allows you the chance to build more value. We have already gone over the various times you can handle objections, and here are some additional ways to postpone dealing with a concern or objection and continuing with your presentation.

If a price or price range is given (say, anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000), and the prospect objects with, “That's more than we want to spend,” then instead of stopping and trying to overcome the objection (which only gives control to the prospect and disrupts your momentum), you should respond with any of the following.

In Sales, the Most Important Thing to Say Is. . . .

I know, it's catchy, and kind of a trick title, isn't it? When I ask audiences what they think it is, they guess things like:

“Asking for the sale!”

“When would the customer like delivery?”

“How many units do they want?”

Things like that. All these are good guesses—they are all closing questions and these are arguably the most important things to say. But the number one most important thing to say is nothing.

That's right. Remaining silent after asking a qualifying question, or a tie‐down, or a trial close, or especially after asking for the sale, is the most important thing to do. Another crucial time to say nothing is after a prospect gives an objection. This is important because if you can just give some space here before you respond, you will find that your prospect will often feel compelled to explain their reasoning or even reveal what you will need to say to overcome it. And so saying nothing during these moments is actually your most powerful tool.

The reason for this is that your prospect or customer has all the answers as to why they will buy or not buy, and if you don't remain quiet and let them tell you, you will never know what they are. The problem for 90‐plus percent of salespeople is that they want to talk instead of suffer through what they interpret as an uncomfortable silence. But it is just this silence that will always encourage your prospect to reveal more, and the more they reveal, the more insight and leverage you will have to close the sale.

So how can you get good at not saying anything? Simple: use your mute button. For most reps, the mute button is something they seldom use (do you even know where yours is?), and if they do occasionally use it, it is to put a prospect on hold to get some information or look something up. But for top sales producers, the mute button is the most powerful button on their phone. Here's how to use it:

• First, locate it, start practicing using it—you know, get comfortable with the time delay (if any) between when you turn it on and turn it off. Reassure yourself that there is no clicking noise and that it is absolutely seamless.
• Know when to use it. This is simple, actually. Whenever you ask a question of a prospect, hit your mute button. Do not unmute yourself until your prospect is done with their thought and done speaking.
• In fact, put a two‐ or three‐second delay between when you think they are done and when you unmute. This is harder than it seems, but will pay dividends.
• Special Tip Here: Contrary to what you think, your prospect does not need to hear your um's or ah's to believe you are listening. The more absolute quiet there is, the more comfortable they will feel, and the more they will talk.
• Get in the habit of encouraging them to talk even more by unmuting yourself (after they are done) and asking, “Oh?” or “What else?” or “What do you mean exactly?” Then mute yourself again and let them continue talking.
• Take notes while they talk. Write down any words or phrases they say and make it a point to feed these back to them later in the conversation. This will show them you are actively listening, and they will be more receptive to common words and phrases they use often.
• The mute button is good for prospecting calls as well! Do not just use it during the close. In fact, your tip is that whenever your prospect is talking, you need to be on mute.

The treasure of information you will get by listening and not interrupting is beyond valuable.

Not only will you get the exact reasons and motives needed to close the sale (or objections to avoid or overcome), but you will get something else just as valuable: you will gain trust and confidence.

Everyone loves to be heard and loves to be listened to. Most salespeople are distrusted and disliked because they are pushy and make it seem as if it is all about them. You can immediately reverse this by becoming a great listener.

Quick Last Story: just the other day I was speaking with a new prospect and, employing the mute button, the call went for an hour and 40 minutes. The prospect probably talked for an hour and 15 minutes of that time. When the call finally ended, he told me how much he enjoyed the conversation and how much he was looking forward to the next call. And all I did was ask pointed questions and then listened while on mute. So there you have it: the most important thing to say in sales is nothing!

Ask for the Sale Five Times—at Least!

How many times have you seen a commercial (either a TV ad, a public billboard, an ad in a magazine, and so on) for Coca‐Cola? Perhaps I should ask how many times a day do you see one? You think that people already know about Coca‐Cola, but did you know that Coca‐Cola still spends millions of dollars each year on advertisements? Why do you think that is?

It is the same reason that infomercials run over and over again. After you have seen the same infomercial 50 times, you begin to consider it. After another 50 times, you think you might use it. Another 50, and some of you decide that you've got to have it. I mean, heck, they have run this commercial at least a thousand times. There must be some value to this, right?

I remember my first sales manager used to say to us that we weren't even in the closing arena until we had asked for the sale at least five times (and gotten a “no” five times, by the way).

After that, he would say, you are finally closing. I would attempt to argue with him, saying that if I kept asking, then I would become a pest. He pointed out that when a prospect objects to something, it was my job as a sales professional to handle the objection using a scripted response, then confirm my answer, and then ask for the sale again. He told me this is what “closing the sale” was called.

How many times do you ask for the sale? Do you ask for it in a round‐about, soft way and then give up if your prospect says no? Or do you even ask for it at all? How much more successful would you be if you asked for the order five times and had a prepared response to each objection and, after answering it, asked for the sale again? Now I know there is a fine line between being obnoxious and being persistent, but the more you can be persuasive and persistent, the more deals you are going to close. It is like Coca‐Cola. If they had run one ad and quit, we would all be drinking Pepsi today!

So, what is the best way to ask for the order over and over again? You have options: you can use trial closes, assumptive closes, or flat out closes. Here are some scripts to get you started.