
In an ideal world, we’d simply announce what our services are and people would hire us. One simple sales letter would result in new paying clients. The “feast or famine” business cycles would be a distant memory.
Unfortunately (as we know) the truth is a bit more complex.
Getting prospects to pay attention to us in the first place isn’t easy. (Especially if you find it difficult to differentiate yourself from your competition.)
But the challenge doesn’t stop there.
It just changes.
While having prospects “raise their hands” and express an initial interest is the very-important first step, it’s only just that…the first step.
Because now, the challenge becomes, How do we convert these prospects into paying clients?
This was a real challenge for me. For a long time, I was excellent at getting prospects to raise-their-hands, but only mediocre at converting them into paying clients.
I’m not sure what exactly made the light bulb go on. In truth it probably was a culmination of things. But I do remember when the switch got flicked.
I was flying back from Steve Harrison’s Quantum Leap program. We’d been spending the past 3 days discussing hooks-how to pitch your ideas in short “sound bites” so that the media gets intrigued. I guess that getting into this frame of mind, enabled me to sit down and write a sales script (actually more of a Sales Closing Presentation).
At the time my closing percentage was around 25%. OK, but not great.
Have you ever had one of those moments of great clarity? When all of a sudden, all the disparate pieces of the puzzle come together?
I had mine somewhere at 35,000 feet passing over Philadelphia.
I wrote the Sales Closing Presentation in literally 20 minutes. Unlike other sales scripts I’d written, this had three distinct sections. Questions-Transition-Close.
And that’s key. An excellent Sales Closing Presentation has all three components. The reason why most traditional sales scripts don’t work is that they only focus on the last element. However, the reality is that without all three sections, the script either sounds canned & fake, or simply falls flat.
I’ve been using this Sales Closing Presentation for the past 7 months for one of my business offers. My closing percentage has gone from 25% to 85%.
Granted, I have an advantage that you may or may not have.
I don’t talk with “cold” prospects. Everyone I’m speaking with has opted-in to become a Gentle Rain subscriber before I ever talk with them.
Remember, marketing and sales go hand-in-hand.
Marketing is about getting people interested in you. Sales is about converting these prospects into paying clients.
You need both.
If you just focus on marketing, you’ll have a big list of prospects but little money in the bank.
If you just focus on sales, you’ll spend a huge amount of time talking with people who are just a waste of time.
So you need both.
I’ll admit I’m someone who, for the longest time, thought I was better at closing than I was. My philosophy was that if I could get them initially interested, I’d turn them into paying clients.
In reality I was only right about that 25% of the time. OK, but not great.
What I’ve found is that having the right sales closing presentation enables you to not only increase the percentage of prospects who become clients, but it also greatly improves your consistency. (Interestingly, I’ve tried as an experiment not using the Sales Closing Presentation on occasion-and sure enough-my closing percentage drops back down to 25/35%.)
But…(there’s always a “but” isn’t there?)…a good Sales Closing Presentation doesn’t sound like a script. It sounds like a conversation. But, creating that requires the 3 elements I discussed.
Maybe I’ll write about those 3 components in more detail if anyone has an interest. If so, drop me a note.
And…(blatant plug)…if you want me to work with you to develop a great Sales Closing Presentation of your own…that’s an ideal use of the Gentle Rain Coaching program.
Something to consider.
Mark
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