Have you ever been sat with a customer and thought to yourself, “I really want this project. I know I can help the customer”.
But you don’t want to just say “so can I have some money please?” It’s difficult to ask for the sale without sounding awkward.
I’m going to show you exactly what to do and say, in a meeting with a customer, in order to close a sale. Without sounding desperate, or awkward.
Funnel proposal
The key to closing more funnel projects, is a great proposal template. The faster you can write proposals, the faster you can start closing more deals. Download the world’s fastest marketing funnel proposal template below.
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We fear rejection
In a perfect world, all our customers would ask us to work with them. We’d never have to “close” them and fear rejection.
The reason we’re afraid to ask customers for the deal, is down to our fear of rejection. Or, we’re afraid of offending the customer.
Both offending the customer, and being rejected or told “no”, spark deep rooted biological reactions in us as humans.
Thousands of years ago, we lived in smaller tribes. Offending someone might mean the rest of the tribe avoids us. Rejection would also mean the same thing. Fear of rejections and offense is a survival mechanism and it’s hard to get over.
The most important thing to remember with your fear of rejection, is that 1. The customer is probably not going to be offended and 2. Even if you are rejected, absolutely nothing is going to happen.
Our fear of rejection comes from a time when we had smaller tribes. We knew around 25 – 100 people in our entire lives. Rejection could mean being ostracised by the group. We know such large numbers of people now and the population is so large, that we no longer need to listen to that fear.
Angry customers!
Angry monkey customer. Typical. Photo by Lewis Roberts on Unsplash
There’s a huge misconception that if we ask the customer for a sale, that they’ll throw their arms in the air, take umbrage with us and become deeply offended. They’ll reject us and we’ll be cast out, never able to work in the marketing funnel space again. Resigned to a life of working in a cave.
In 5 years of selling marketing funnels, I have NEVER EVER had a customer become offended when I’ve asked them for the sale. Never.
Even if the close is WAY to early and I’m way too keen, the absolute worst that’s happened is they’ve replied with “not just yet, I need to know more about the project”.
That was it. That was the crushing rejection. Someone telling me “not right now”.
We fear asking for the sale and closing at the wrong time. Maybe we’ll ask too early and come across as too keen. Maybe we’ll ask when they’re in a bad mood.
So instead, we NEVER ask and we hope that they’ll take the initiative. But that’s never going to happen.
As funnel builders, we must take the initiative and ask the customer for their business. It’s not just a question of our business needing the money, it’s that THEIR business needs help. We have a moral obligation to help them and their business.
Closing the funnel deal
1. Moral obligation
If you can help your customers, or if you can help anyone for that matter, would you agree you have an obligation to help them? If you have the opportunity to help improve someone’s life, solve a problem and make their life better, would you not argue that you have a moral obligation to do so?
If you have the ability to help increase the number of sales, email subscribers or traffic for a customer. And you know that it would make their life better and improve the quality of their life. You have a moral obligation to help that customer.
Internalising your moral obligation, and truly believing that you do have a moral obligation, makes closing less awkward and more a question of helping people as much as possible.
Think about a doctor who has seen someone with a broken leg. It’s a compound fracture and the person is clearly in a lot of pain. If that doctor is capable of helping that person with a broken leg, would you agree that that doctor has a moral obligation to help the injured person?
When the doctor explains to the patient that they’ll have to set the bone, and that initially it will be very painful, the injured person might respond by telling the doctor, that they don’t want to go through it.
This is often the case with children for example. Because the child is scared or hurt, their fear usually overrides the future benefits. This is simply because they are uneducated in the matter and no one is taking the time, to explain the process to them.
If someone refused treatment for a broken leg, because they didn’t want the pain of the bone setting, the doctor would do everything they could to convince them it was the right move.
It was the least gross photo I could find. Photo by Piron Guillaume on Unsplash
For example, the doctor will talk about the future benefits of being able to run and walk again. There’s also the obvious immediate pain of a broken leg that the doctor can take away.
The doctor knows what the benefits are to fixing the broken leg. Even if the patient is refusing treatment, the doctor will push through because frankly they know better. The doctor will do everything they can to help the injured person, with a problem, experiencing pain-even if they are initially hesitant.
This sense of moral obligation is so strong that they refused to yield to objections. Constantly talking to the injured patient aboutThe benefits and the better future that they’ll have if they initially get through this pain.
Many customers experience this “new pain” in the form of pricing. Our job is to push past that initial objection and understand our moral obligation to the customer.
2. Welcome “objections”
I don’t really like the term objection, because it implies something that I want to overcome. However all customers will have objections, and if you are willing to welcome them, you’ll find closing much less awkward.
Objections are concerns that the customer has, before committing to a purchase. You want to hear these objections and concerns ss soon as possible. You want to hear all of your customers objections, because they’re telling you they want to buy.
As soon as you begin to welcome objections, you’ll find that asking for the deal becomes less awkward. The reason for this is because, every time you answer an objection,, the customers desire get stronger.
Objections range from things like price, compatibility, delivery and benefits. The most common objection being “the price is too high”.
So when you decide to ask for the deal and the customer turned round to you, and says “the price is too high”. They aren’t saying that they don’t want to buy. They’re saying “help me justify this purchasing decision because I don’t understand the pricing”.
Any objection is a customer telling you that they want to buy, but they can’t justify in their mind yet. They’re asking you for another reason to buy. You need to learn to turn objections and use them to position your services benefits.
3. Ask if they “want help with that”
So the easiest method of closing the deal, is to ask if the customer “wants help with that?”
It’s a really simple process. First, we repeat back the problem that the customer has. Then we repeat back the goal or the result that they do want. Then we ask them if that all sounds correct, and if we’ve understood the situation.
When they agree, we ask them if they’d like help with that.
“So Mr Smith. Let me make sure I understand. First, your business isn’t making the sales that it needs via your website. And if you were to make more sales you’d increase your revenue of course and be able to hire new members of staff. Have I understood that correctly?”
“Yes that sounds about right.”
“Okay fantastic. Would you like some help with that?”
The customer is left with one of two options. Either yes or no. If they say yes, that’s your cue to offer them the contract to sign there and then and take a deposit from them.
“Fantastic! We can get started with this today if you’re just sign here and pay our security deposit.”
Can you see how calm, unintrusive and effective that question is?
Of course the customer could say no. But we have an answer for that as well. We are going to welcome another objection, and we going to ask them “can I ask why you don’t want help with this? Have I misunderstood the situation?”
Your customer now will reveal to you another objection. Which you can turn and then repeat the process. Usually, if a customer says no at this point, it’s because you haven’t understood the situation. Repeat back to them the problem, result loop and asked them if they want help with the new situation you’ve discovered.
4. You can start helping them today
Grant Cardone has a wonderful saying. It’s “we are in a hurry to help”.
This is something that you have to do repeatedly internalise and understand. You have to live your moral obligation, by being in a hurry to help people.
“Mr Smith, please don’t take my insistence as a sign of bullishness. I’m just in a hurry to help. Many of our customers have started in the same situation as you. And I’ve always been keen to solve their problems and get the results that they desire.”
Now of course you could personalise the “solve your problems” and “get the results” parts of that sentence. Use the particular pain point and results, that your actual customers desire.
But this goes back to our doctor analogy. Our doctor is clearly in a hurry, to help this patient. An injured person needs help, of course we will do everything in our power to take that pain away quickly. Or as quickly as possible.
So what does flammable mean? Fox
You can remind your customers, that you’re willing to start helping them today. If they sign up, sign the contract and pay the deposit today, you can start solving their problems today.
Imagine walking into a shop, filling up a basket with some items and goods that you wanted, and then walking over to the cashier. When you begin to hand over your money the cashier starts putting your goods behind the counter.
You start thinking “what the hell are they doing?”
If they explain to you that you can collect your goods tomorrow, how would you feel? Pretty annoyed assuming. This is what so many marketing funnel businesses are doing to their customers. Even though we can help today, and start working with the customer today, we are withholding the goods and services.
Customers want help today. They don’t want help tomorrow or next week. They’re having you in this meeting with them to solve their problems today.
You can even remind customers of this fact.
“Mr Smith. We can start working on your traffic acquisition and revenue growth plan today, if you’re just sign a contract and pay the deposit.”
Does this sound like the hard sell? Of course not. You’re simply affirming to the customer that you are in a hurry to help.
5. Customer’s NEED direction
Finally, you’ll notice that in many of ourclosing lines, we give the customer directions. We tell them to sign the contract and pay the deposit.
I am staggered at how many pitch meetings I’ve been in, where the supplier has never even asked for our business. They’ve walked out of the room, all smiling (no doubt thinking to themselves they’ve done a fantastic job), And yet we really wanted to get going today.
We then get an email a few weeks later asking us “did you have any more questions?”
Yeah I’ve got a fucking question for you. “How do we engage your services and start benefiting?”
Never assume that your customers know how to engage your services or take it to the next level. Your customers might be going through this for the very first time. You have to do everything you can to give them direction.
Imagine never walking into a shop before, but also never being able to see where the cashier is. You’d be wandering around asking people “how do I buy this?”
Again, it sounds extremely obvious, but you have to tell the customer EXPLICITLY, how to engage your services. You need to tell them the exact next steps and directions, that they must take in order to start solving their problems.
If a customer has a problem they want to know how to fix it. The first thing they need to do to start fixing that problem, is engage your business. Therefore the first action they need to take is sending you a deposit, and signing a contract.
Marketing funnel proposal
The key to closing more funnel projects, is a great proposal template. The faster you can write proposals, the faster you can start closing more deals. Download the world’s fastest marketing funnel proposal template below.
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Closing funnel deals
When it comes to closing funnel sales, the most obvious thing to start doing is asking for the deal. The absolute worst that is going to happen as they can say no, and off you an objection. Which remember, you want to hear. They are giving you the reasons and justifications they need to hear, in order to buy.
If you feel morally obliged to help the customer, and you know that you’re in a hurry to help, you’ll never struggle to close a deal. Offer the customer a distinct and clear next steps, to start solving their problems.
But I’m not good at sales Mike!
I hear what you’re saying and I understand how you feel. A lot of our sell your service members felt the same way. But what they found is that the sales process has nothing to do with being talkative, confident or aggressive/pushy.
Zig Ziegler, Jim Rohn, grant Cardone – they’ll all say the same thing. A good sales person is someone who understands whether it is mutually beneficial the two parties to work together. That’s all the sales processes.
Understanding if it’s beneficial for two parties to work together.
If you can understand how you can solve your customer’s problems, and they can understand how to engage you, you’ve made a sale. No flashy sales gimmicks, no fast talking, and no misdirection.
You’ve internalise that you have a true moral obligation to help that customer and that you should help them as fast as possible.
Imagine someone discovering that you could have helped them generate more sales, find more leads and help their customers. But instead of helping them, you decided you didn’t want to help them. How would the world perceive you then?
Think about what your moral obligation is to the world, and to your customers, and you’ll have a greater impact on society and the world and you could have ever imagined.
I’m not good at lying
I’m not very good at lying, which is perhaps seen as ironic as I’m a very good salesperson. In truth, the reason a good salesperson is because I’ve never had to lie. My favourite part of this whole process, is having a true moral obligation to help my customers.
I will argue to the death with anyone who wants to spend their money elsewhere, other than on my services.
I don’t want people wasting money on Netflix, junk food, expensive new printers or a new office space. I’ll argue with them that my funnel services in my coaching at the most important purchase their business will ever make.
Funnel proposal
The key to closing more funnel projects, is a great proposal template. The faster you can write proposals, the faster you can start closing more deals. Download the world’s fastest marketing funnel proposal template below.
