Do you find yourself getting anxious when you find yourself in a selling conversation that is progressing towards the inevitable point where you have to close the sale by asking for the order?
Do you tense up? Do your hands get clammy? Does your confidence waver?
If so, you’re not alone. I talk to many business owners who feel exactly the same way at a time they SHOULD feel excitement.
I think one of the main reasons this anxiety starts to spike when it comes time to close the sale is caused by a lack of understanding of what the selling process is really all about.
If you see selling as an adversarial type of process – one where there’s a loser and a winner – you’re always going to feel anxious. After all, who wants to be a loser?
Ok, so what can you do to avoid feeling this apprehension and lack of confidence?
Well, you could talk to other business owners or colleagues to see how they handle this situation. Or you could head to the bookstore and bury yourself in a section where books on sales training are shelved.
But I think there’s a much easier way that you can implement immediately to get rid of those selling butterflies.
Try this: Simply reframe your understanding of how you view selling conversations and interactions. Take the focus off yourself and shine the spotlight on your prospect.
Professional selling is all about arriving at a mutually beneficial outcome.
When you see selling as a win-win process, there’s nothing to be anxious about. Both sides should benefit from the relationship.
You can make this shift in your thinking TODAY and immediately start seeing results from this new understanding.
Okay, so there’s a start on getting that anxiety level to subside.
But, let’s keep going…
Another mindset shift that will help you eliminate those selling butterflies when you ask for the order is to see selling as problem solving.
When your prospect is looking to buy something, he is trying to solve a problem.
He either has a situation he wants to fix or he wants something he doesn’t have.
Your job is simply to solve his problem.
This reframes your thinking to a much more positive approach. Instead of thinking you have to sell him your product or service, instead focus on selling him your SOLUTION.
One of biggest untruths foisted on business owners is that new ways to close sales are emerging every week.
OK. FULL. STOP. There’s NOTHING new about the basics of selling and closing fundamentals.
Selling has always been about solving problems.
A good starting point for adopting a new confidence-inspiring mindset towards selling is to think about all the problems your product or service solves. Write them down.
And as you’re doing that, remember, your product or service could solve more than one problem. People buy for different reasons.
Here’s an example: Say you sell an accounting software program. For some, the main benefit (or problem) your program delivers is peace of mind. For others, it will be the sense of security they feel from having a program that prevents revenue from slipping through the cracks.
Doesn’t that make you see what you’re offering in a totally different light?
When you start thinking of yourself as a problem solver, it only makes sense that the more people you sell to the more problems you solve.
When you believe in your product or service it’s your duty to get it into as many prospect hands as possible.
You are making people’s lives better.
