It’s a universal truth that people don’t like being sold to. Yet, people love to buy. So the question is, how can you engage your prospects to close without being pushy?
When people envisage a salesman, the image conjured up is often of a wheeler dealer. Someone who is looking to get the best deal for them, certainly not to you.
Changing people’s perceptions and pre-conceived ideas is a real challenge for those in customer facing roles. But it’s not an impossible task.
The key is to avoid being pushy, and reach the ideal conclusion for all parties collectively.
Collaboration Over Control
Getting someone to buy your product or service can create a lot of pressure for both yourself and the prospective customer.
You want to make sure that you’re approaching each prospect the right way, with individual considerations.
But you don’t want to be too pushy so as to alienate the prospect, nor lose sales because you’re too afraid to close.
“Only 13% of customers believe a sales person can understand their needs.”
The Brevet Group
Sales is walking this tightrope; it takes practice to nail it every time.
You have to strike the right balance between getting your point across and not pushing your prospect into a corner.
Collaborating, rather than controlling, is a step in the right direction.
5 Tips To Close Without Being Pushy
When a decision is reached collaboratively, rather than through control and manipulation, asking for the close is a lot easier.
The skill for sales people, is reaching that point of perfect symmetry, on both your aims and the customer’s goals, to reach the ideal solution.
How can you achieve this? By following these five tips…
Eradicate Any Pressure
Vitally important but challenging to implement.
You’re trying to build a successful business, hit targets or earn that promotion. In order to do this, you need to be bringing on new customers.
Because of this, it’s easy to feel pressured to get each prospect to buy from you.
This pressure can cause you to make mistakes. It can make you rush straight into your sales pitch rather than taking the time to get to know you prospect.
“Pressure on prospects in the sales process, whether intended or not, is a leading source of stalling.”
Lushin
To avoid being pushy, it’s critical to acknowledge that this pressure can cause you to become that pushy, aggressive person when you’re trying to sell.
The pressure you’re feeling will translate across to the prospects and, ultimately, cause you to lose more than you win.
It requires you to change your mindset.
Instead of believing that you absolutely must get this sale right now, understand that in the end, it’s more effective to follow your best practice process until it’s time to close.
Don’t Rush
Intrinsically linked to eradicating pressure, few customers will buy on your terms.
Instead, collaborate to scope out a mutually beneficial schedule and eliminate any pressure to force action.
One of the most effective ways to close, without being pushy, is to take your time.
“One of the biggest mistakes that people make is rushing straight to the sales pitch.
It’s like asking someone to marry after the first date!”
Small Biz Trends
If you come off like you’re desperate for the sale, it will turn your prospect off. Remember, you want your prospect to be as comfortable as possible.
This is why it’s so important to develop your own bespoke, best practice process.
Only you know what works most effectively for your operation. Implement this workflow and hit every step along the way.
We’ve written extensively on enhancing your Sales Cycle Customer Touchpoints; finding and introducing your well paced workflow will ensure staff don’t rush ahead, flustering and pressuring your prospects.
Listen > Talk
Listening more than you talk nigh on guarantees your chances to close without being pushy.
Why? Because you’re not doing the talking.
It’s hard to be aggressive or assertive when it’s your prospect that is speaking. Right?
Encouraging your prospect to do the talking will make it much easier to sell without being overwhelming or pushy.
It also helps you understand your prospect more, which means your chances of winning the sale increase.
“The highest yielding sales conversations hovered around a 43:57 talk-to-listen ratio”.
Sales Hacker
The best way to get your prospects talking is to ask great questions.
Open questions will encourage your prospect to share more about their vision and illuminate areas in which your expert services can make a real difference.
The more they talk, the more you understand and the deeper the connection you’re able to build with them.
Build Trust & Comfort
By making your prospect more comfortable, the better your chances will be of earning their business.
Being pushy will make your prospects feel nervous and tense, which is why it’s so ineffective.
One of the easiest ways to sell, and get your prospect to feel comfortable with you, is to be human.
When you show that you’re comfortable and relaxed, your prospect will feel the same way.
“A buyer will never see the full value of what you propose if they don’t trust you.
You will not win the sale if there is a lack of trust.”
Rain Group
Do whatever you can to put your customer at ease and you won’t have to worry about pushing them to buy.
When it comes to major purchases, trust is a hugely influencing factor.
We have an innate loss aversion bias. Building trust helps remove this barrier as customers truly believe you can deliver precisely what your promise.
It’s All About Them, Not You
Time to be brutally honest, your customer doesn’t care about your company, product, or service.
They care about themselves. They care about solving their problems.
To close without being pushy, focus on their issue, not your sales target. Detach yourself from the outcome.
Problems arise when customer facing staff rush into the pitch without any regard for the prospects needs or pain points.
This sends the message that you see the prospect as nothing more than a blank cheque.
Then you go on and on about your product without even addressing what your prospect really needs.
If you find out their why, you can build your process around that goal.
So by the time it comes to close, they’re falling over themselves to give you their credit card details.
Partners Over Providers
You want to become a partner and a consultant to your prospect. Not just someone who wants to sell them something.
This approach can take more time, but it’s more effective in the long run.
The important thing to remember about these five tips to close without being pushy is that they work together to create an approach that actually helps your prospect.
“Your objective is not to sell your product or service.
Your objective is to make your prospect’s life better or easier.”
Hubspot
By removing any pressure, taking your time and listening more than you talk, you are curating an enjoyable, calm environment for the customer to explore the options for the issue they’re trying to solve.
Building trust and focussing on their goals reinforces the idea that you are solely there to help them, rather than further your own interests.
Adhere to these tips and closing becomes a natural next step, rather than a confrontational, awkward encounter.
Ready to explore how Anthill can revolutionise your workflows to enhance customer experience? Schedule a demo today.
Intrigued to learn more? Check out our Insights Hub to keep your business at the cutting edge.
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- September 9th, 2021