Two Ways to Improve Your Closing Ratio

Lately, I noticed with some salespeople the irony of, on the one hand, persuading everyday customers to change, but, on the other hand, they have difficulties themselves with making changes. Although they have seen a decline in their closing ratios, to make that deliberating change from their traditional way of selling to a modern sales approach is a challenge for many. In a way, this is strange, because every month your paycheck depends on your success in closing deals.

Making a change in how you sell is hard for everyone because you have developed ingrained habits. You believe in what you know well and not in what is new and unfamiliar. I want to help you with making it more transparent in comparing the traditional sales approach with the modern sales approach. Not in too many words – just an overview and key differences. Which one do you believe have the best chance to improve your closing ratios?

TraditionalModern
Your focuspain-points and dissatisfactionthe customer’s business results
You help to seewhy us?why change?
Your questioningtry to get the buyer interested in youbecoming interested in your buyer’s challenges and how you can help
Your are competing withyour main competitorsviews of other stakeholders in the customer’s organisation
You are sellingwith the seller’s perspectivewith the buyer’s perspective
Who is discovering?youyour customer
Key persuading skillsales acumenbusiness acumen
Relying onmagic wand and closing tricksinsights and ideas that shine a different perspective on the customer’s challenges
Sellingproducts and solutionsreason to explore a change
Offered valuetransactionalstrategic
What the buyer experiencesan expert on solutionsa value creator and a trusted advisor
At the end of the meetinggetting pushed on pricegaining commitment to involve more stakeholders
Closing ratio20-30%65 – 75%

Do the maths; you need to work twice as hard using the traditional sales approach. The challenge is that the modern sales approach is harder to learn. It needs your time investment. It requires reading blogs, books, listening to podcasts and doing the work going through training modules. You will have to do more research for every meeting. You cannot wing your meetings.

Above all, like you try to convince your customers to make a change, you first need to answer the Why Change? question yourself. Starting with the end in mind, which door will you choose to improve your closing ratio?

Feel free to share with your sales colleagues.

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