THE FINAL FRONTIER

To make your way to this final stage of the Universal Marketing Cycle, you’ve already done a lot of things right. You’ve identified good prospects, gotten up the nerve to follow up with them, and convinced them to speak with you. Getting stuck at this point, after investing a great deal of time and effort, can be really frustrating.

Understand first that some sales can’t be made—or at least can’t be made now. The vast majority of reasons that a prospect may choose to say no are completely out of your control. In fact, most consultants, professionals, and coaches find that only one out of three prospects they present to will become a client. This means at least two out of three are saying no.

Many of the reasons prospects decide not to buy are standard objections you can attempt to handle, some of which are covered near the end of this chapter under “Making the Sale.” Others, however, have more to do with how you are presenting and selling yourself. Since this is under your control, some suggestions for improvement follow. First we’ll look at issues of credibility and then move on to specific techniques that you can use for your sales conversations.

BASIC INGREDIENTS FOR CLOSING SALES