Close Close
Sign In
Newsletters
Popular Financial Topics Discover relevant content from across the suite of ALM legal publications From the Industry More content from ThinkAdvisor and select sponsors Investment Advisor Issue Gallery Read digital editions of Investment Advisor Magazine Tax Facts Get clear, current, and reliable answers to pressing tax questions
Luminaries Awards
Podcast Center Video Center Webcasts Resource Center Events
About ThinkAdvisor Contact Us Advertise With Us Asset & Logo Licensing Sitemap Terms of Service Privacy Policy Copyright © 2024 ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
ThinkAdvisor

Practice Management > Building Your Business

Why the 'hard close' isn't working

By Anthony Iannarino

X
Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

The salesperson was struggling to “close” his prospect’s business. The presentation went well, and the prospect understood the value of the solution. But at the end of the call, when the sales person asked his prospect to buy, the client hedged. “I’d like to think it over,” he said. “Can you get back to me next week?”

The salesperson’s manager insisted that his team push hard to close. The salesperson, doing what he was directed to do, pushed the prospect. He said, “You need this. Your business needs this. If you don’t do this now, you know you never will. What credit card are you going to put this on?”

That failed, and he tried again with even more aggressive language.

The last thing the salesperson heard was the sound of his proactive client hanging up.

How to lose a deal

The sales manager is wrong. However, he’s not wrong for directing that his salespeople ask for the business at the end of their presentation. He is wrong in believing that the hard close is the right strategy for winning business.

  • Attempting to push the prospect into buying screams “self-orientation.” This approach ensures that the prospect knows that this deal is all about the salesperson and their company and that it has very little to do with serving the prospect or their needs. The sales manager is trying to use a sledgehammer to turn a doorknob: You may get the door open, but you’ll break it in the process.

  • Equally important, ignoring a prospect’s real needs is no way to win customers. The prospect isn’t ready to buy because he has concerns. The client may be concerned about spending the money. The person may not be sure the product has value. The prospect may want to know what his (or her) partner is going to say. Whatever that prospect’s concern, it is real.

No one needs time to make a better decision. What people often need is more information. Pretending that the prospect’s concerns aren’t real or that it isn’t your job to resolve those concerns is one way to alienate would-be clients, while ensuring that they tell everyone they know that your name belongs right behind Hitler’s, Stalin’s and Mao’s.

Not liked or trusted

No one has to buy from you. Prospects can always buy from someone they know, like and trust. It’s a poor strategy to make people know they don’t like or trust you.

Force is the choice of those who are truly weak. Influence is the choice of the powerful.

Sign up for The Lead and get a new tip in your inbox every day! More tips:

Have you Liked us on Facebook?

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.