Five steps to closing more sales

by Stephen Craine

There is a common sales mistake made by many small business owners who are new to selling. It can lead to customers losing interest during your presentation and makes closing the sale almost impossible. Find out here if you are making the same mistake and losing potential business, and how to make simple changes that will increase sales.

When you take the leap and start your own small business it can be for many reasons. You have a specialised skill, great product knowledge, you are an expert in your field, or perhaps you have a real passion for your business. All of these are real positives that will help you and your micro business to become successful. But did you know that your passion and expertise can also lead to you making errors when you are selling, especially at the sales presentation stage.

When we are passionate about a subject we like to talk about it. You are probably passionate about your business and want to show customers that you are an expert with real experience in your field. So how do you know how much to say during your sales presentation and when to stop talking and move on to closing the sale. This is a problem for many small business owners that sell their own products or service. When they get to the sales presentation stage of the selling process they want to present features and benefits of the product or service that they are selling, and of themselves and their business, but they don’t want to bore the customer with too much information. 

The point of maximum attention

There is a point in a sales presentation where the customer’s interest in what you are saying is at its peak. This is the point of maximum attention. They can see that what your sales proposal meets their needs, wants, and desires. Depending upon the type of sale, this is where you have connected with their emotions and they are in a buying state. This is when you should move from the presentation stage to closing the sale. The common mistake that many people make is to carry on presenting, they keep talking, and the point of maximum attention passes. I have seen sellers completely miss all the signals and carry on presenting more and more features of their product and their business. Once this happen the point of maximum attention has passed and their attention and interest in the product or service, and in you and your business, rapidly decreases.

Five steps to closing more sales

I can understand why this happens. Not all small business owners, and self employed people running a micro business, have the training or experience to spot the signals that show when to stop presenting and when to close the sale. Being passionate about their business they want to show their knowledge and give the customer large amounts of information. If they are nervous when selling they may be focusing on getting their presentation right and not picking up the verbal and non-verbal signals from the buyer. To make sure you know when to stop presenting and when to gain agreement to the sale from the customer follow these 5 simple steps:

1. Make notes of the needs, wants, and desires, that the customer gives you at the questioning stage of the sale. The customer will not mind, it shows you are interested in them and what they want.

2. Base your presentation on the notes made at the questioning stage.

3. Check the customer’s agreement with the benefits as you present especially if it is a ling or technical presentation.

4. When you have presented features and benefits that meet these wants, needs, and desires, stop presenting. They have told you what they want and you have shown how you can give it to them, so stop talking.

5. Have two or three trial close lines that you feel comfortable with ready to use at the end of your presentation to check that you have met all their requirements and test their readiness to buy. 


Stephen Craine  is a working sales manager and trainer. Small business owners can get access to free sales training, and professional eBook courses, that have been developed and proven while selling to real prospects. Just visit Stephen’s website at www.sales-training-sales-tips.com

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The views and opinions of the author expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Hotfrog.