How to Gain a Customer & CLOSE the Sale!

The goal of selling has always been to figure out the best way to get in front of customers, find out their needs, tell them about our incredible products, and to finalize a purchase order.

Most of the time we don’t think of Jesus as a salesman. If we take a deeper look though we discover that He was a master salesman. He sold something people not only wanted, but also desperately needed. The only difference was he was not selling a product, but rather Himself.

Throughout the Bible, we see how Jesus went through certain stages in order to draw in engagement from His “customers”. In our original blogpost How To Sell Like Jesus, we introduced each of these stages: Connect, Content, Close.

We’ve been going deeper into each stage to explore how you can effectively grow in each area. We started with How to Truly CONNECT With Your Customers.

Then we looked at How to Convince Your Customers Your CONTENT is the Best.

Now, we’ll move onto the third stage: Close

How to Gain a Customer & CLOSE the Sale!

How many of us have been scared to ask for a purchase order because we didn’t want an awkward ending to our meeting? Or have you ever thought, “I’ll just follow up with an email after this meeting and then ask for the purchase order.”?

A salesperson can have a great sales call, but stop right before the finish line. Some of us have also believed a sales call was so effective that we thought for sure the customer was going to purchase the product from us – so we never asked! These are all forms of chickening out rather than just being bold and striking while the iron is hot!

Looking at Jesus we see some incredible sales behaviors that can change how you close the sale.

Here are four lessons we can learn from Jesus on how to close the sale:

1. Solving a Problem

We frequently hear people say they don’t want to be a ‘used car salesman’ or ‘sleazy sales person’.

The paradigm shift from selling a product to solving a problem is significant for people who are not natural at sales. When you shift your mindset to solving a problem, then you are excited to offer your solution. If your solution is great, you should want to tell everybody!

Jesus was not selling a product of ministry, but instead was solving a problem of our sins and empty lives.

2. No Ask, No PO

Wayne Gretzky said, “We miss 100% of the shots we don’t take.” In sales, the shot is the ask. Unlike hockey, purchase orders may not be a 100% miss due to the random buyer who has grace for your poor close, but the percentage is extremely high.

No matter how well you set up for the close, you still must ask for the purchase order so the customer doesn’t change their mind when they get back to the office.

Jesus still had to ask the disciples to throw in their nets to catch fish.

3. Accept Some No’s

You will not have a 100% hit ratio so get over it. The key is to not take it personal. Your identity cannot be found in your purchase order hit ratio.

One of my favorite sales gurus, Jeffrey Gitomer said, “It takes seven ‘no’s’ to get a yes, so with each ‘no’, tell them ‘thanks” because you are one step closer to a ‘yes’.”

Even Jesus was turned down by the rich young ruler who was not interested in following him.

4. Stop ‘Selling’ After the PO

Once the buyer has given you the purchase order, it’s unnecessary to continue talking about the features and benefits of the product or service.

Years ago, I read a great story about a family who was in the process of buying a minivan. As they were starting the paperwork, a sales guy stopped by to tell them how much they are going to love their new minivan. He explained how great this new minivan was because it has a sensor that reopens the sliding door if it notices a kid’s arm is in the way, thus not smashing the kids arm.

The mom stopped him and said, “What?! What happens if the sensor is broke??.”

Obviously, the sales guy stumbled all over his response. The mom replied, ‘We don’t want the minivan anymore. We’ll go across the street and buy a SUV.”

Once people started to follow Jesus, he didn’t go on and on trying to convince them how great it was going to be.

So, in summary – if you connect well with the customer and position your content to meet the buyer’s needs, then you won’t need to complicate the close. However, if you don’t ask for the sale, there is a high probability that you will not get the purchase order. Be bold and ask for the sale, but also know your personal success is not dependent on that one purchase order!

These are crucial lessons we can learn from the life of Jesus. After all, he really was the greatest salesman that ever lived. Best of luck to you!

What’s next?

If you’re ready for help now with your sales calls and want coaching, please reach out to cory@corymcarlson.com for help!

Want to win at both home and work? Opt-in at: https://www.corymcarlson.com/join-me

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