Close a Meeting This Way and Increase Your Odds of a Sale

Article Date: July 3, 2006

How many times have you and your team left a sales call and said to each other, "That was great... they were giving us all the right buy signals," only to be disappointed later when either the process drags out or you lose the sale outright?

Here's a great way to solve this dilemna.  It goes something like this:

Toward the end of the meeting, begin to sum up by saying: "We have covered a lot of ground here today.  How do you feel, at this point, about what you have just seen/heard?"

The reason I like to ask people how they feel, as opposed to, say, discussing next steps, is because it opens up their soul for a moment, and allows me to see if I have really moved them, or if they are simply being polite.

Answers like "We are really excited," are the ones I am looking for.  Answers like, "Interesting.  We have to think about timing," allow me an opportunity to probe (greatly) further, until I understand the real issues I am dealing with.

Remember, this is no time to pressure anyone.  The idea is to simply do a bit more detective work, at the meeting, so you can realistically focus your resources later.

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