I had a coaching session with a client yesterday and we were reviewing her sales funnel. She mentioned that she and her sales reps provide excellent service to clients, but admitted that they don’t always ask for the close. They will introduce new products or specials, but rather than asking: ”How many would you like to take?” they often just wait for the customer to say how many they want.

And most of the time, the customer just moves onto the next item on the sheet.

I pointed out by not closing or asking for the business in every sales call, she is leaving money on the table and missing opportunities to help customers out.

Taking the attitude of ‘if they like it, they will buy’ and thinking that asking for the business is being too pushy, is downright silly. Customers expect you to be the expert on your product and expect to be closed by you. Simply asking for the business does not force them to say yes if they don’t want it. But it does help them reach a buying decision faster, rather than retreating to the ‘Let me think about it” position.
So, as of yesterday, the new rule at her company is: Ask for the business on every sales call. No exceptions.

And she just emailed me to say doing this simple thing brought in new business today! Are you going for the close every time? And if you aren’t – stop making excuses and start doing it.

Fiona Walsh, CEO, FM Walsh & Associates Inc. www.fmwalsh.com

Tags: fiona walsh, FM Walsh & Associates, Sales Calls, Women in Business

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