No amount of lead generation is worth it if your deals don't close. What are the factors that make closing a deal an uphill battle, no matter how good the product is? Why are targeting and messaging so important in this process? How do we know when it’s the right time to deliver our value proposition, and what’s the best channel for closing more deals?
On this episode, James Muir, author of the #1 best-selling book The Perfect Close, shares how to overcome the hurdles that get in the way of closing deals.
"No amount of brilliant messaging, computer automation or brute force effort can compensate for selling to the wrong prospect." -James Muir
There are two categories we can look at to really know and understand our ideal customers: demographics and psychographics. Demographics are things you can easily find in a database, but psychographics are harder to find. These are things like attitudes toward growth and change, as well as attitudes toward a given challenge. You can’t get deep psychographic knowledge until you’ve met the client.
You cannot create urgency where there is none, but you can deliver some insight that makes the prospect aware that they could improve their situation. You have to present them with an unconsidered need— some kind new of understanding or new requirement around a challenge or opportunity they aren’t aware of. Once their paradigm shifts, that’s when you present your value proposition.
There is one particular channel that absolutely outperforms every other channel, and that’s referrals. They are the highest leveraged, most under-utilized channel in any business. They convert up to 500% higher than any channel. Most organizations aren’t leveraging this enough, usually because they don’t think it can be predictable. If you treat referrals like worthy a channel, you can actually make them predictable.
The single most effective thing you can do to improve sales is sell only to ideal candidates. Everything else is downstream from there, and having that information makes everything else easier. When you don’t know your own value proposition, and why people are buying your product/service, it’s impossible to craft a message that will make them take action.
Guest Bio-
James Muir is the founder and CEO of Best Practice International and the bestselling author of the #1 book on closing sales – The Perfect Close. James is a 30-year veteran of sales having served in every role – from individual contributor to executive VP. His mission – to make the complex simple.
For more information, and to download “The 7 Deadly Sins of Closing” + the first three chapters of the book FREE, go to https://puremuir.com/. You can also follow James on Twitter @B2B_SalesTips.