The secret to making deals: how to win over your prospects
Making deals isn’t a one-stop shot. Learn how to move your prospects down the sales pipeline, turn them into clients, and close the deal.
Salespeople have one ultimate goal: making deals. Everything salespeople do is all part of the deal process, like sourcing prospects, moving them down the pipeline, negotiating, and executing the business deal.
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In this article you will be able to find 5 steps to consider (and be successful!) when making deals:
1. Identify business opportunities
2. Know your worth and points of differentiation
3. Find points of connection
4. Remain honest and humble
5. Follow up
Keep reading to discover them all!
Steps you need to follow to win over prospects and seal those deals
1. Identify business opportunities – and note the value for all
The best professional relationships are all about synergy, meaning everyone is completely on the same page working towards the same goal, part of a mutually beneficial relationship.
Business opportunities shouldn’t be one-sided, or beneficial for just one party. When identifying opportunities and potential deals, make sure your team and your clients or prospects understand the value for everyone involved.
When defining the value of whatever your company can offer a client, think about short-term and long-term benefits. How can your product help a potential client now, and how can it continue to help them later? Clearly address these points so your prospects can see your vision of why they need to buy from you and exactly how it will benefit everyone involved when making deals. Once that’s clear, working together will be easy, and both you and your customers will have a shared vision.
2. Know your worth and points of differentiation to negotiate to your best advantage
It’s not just about making deals, it’s about making the right deal. And that means knowing your worth and making sure that you are negotiating a fair deal for everyone involved.
Make a list of all the reasons why your potential client should hire you and why you’re worth your rate. This can include stats, prior successes stories, or reasons why and how you can help your client meet their goals. Some of these can be shared with your client, and others may be best to keep internally, but this will show not just your clients, but yourself and your team exactly why you’re deserving and can do the best job.
Feel free to negotiate, but carry yourself and your company in high regard to ensure you’re closing a deal that’s fair to them and fair to you and your team.
Part of knowing your worth means knowing when to walk away. If a client doesn’t appreciate you or won’t budge on paying the rate you know you deserve, it may be best to let it go and not waste everyone’s time. The process of making deals will not always end in success, and that’s okay. Likewise, try to identify which deals are worth pursuing to focus your efforts on prospects and clients who understand – or at least have the potential to understand – your worth and how you can lead everyone to shared success. You have the power to leave dead deals and move on – use it if and when necessary.
3. Find points of connection to avoid reducing the relationship to a single business transaction
According to IRC, only 2% of sales are made on the first point of contact. The relationship needs to move further along if you want to make deals and close them.
Moving prospects down the sales pipeline to close a deal is not just one single transaction. Making deals is equal to a number of connections, including emails, phone calls, meetings in person, virtual meetings – and these may include several members of each company.
Finding multiple points of connection has many meanings. First, it means finding different ways to connect with one person, ensuring you’re speaking repeatedly to the main person you’re focusing on closing the deal with. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and this famous saying applies to making deals, too.
That being said, involving your whole team, as well as speaking to different members of their company may be useful. While you’ll want to focus on closing the deal with the main decision-maker, it’s important to make connections with their assistant or employees. These people can actually help make or break your deal, and may be the means through which you’re able to reach the decision-maker. Win everyone over, and you’ve got a deal on your hands.
Remember that attitude is everything, and stay patient. A long-term connection and negotiation process can actually help build a better business relationship that may evolve into making deals in the future. Don’t rush to close deals without giving each interaction and transaction the due time it deserves, allowing time for reflection, negotiation, and time to build a real business connection. These more profound types of business relationships are the ones that lead to making the best, most fruitful business deals, with opportunities for making deals as well in the future.
4. Making deals = Remain honest and humble
Business deals are professional connections, but in the end, it’s really just people connecting with people. No one wants to do business with people that lie, boast, or cheat. And yes, people can tell when you’re being genuine and getting more personal versus just reciting a sales pitch. Give your potential prospect or client some credit – they can see right through someone that’s not being genuine. If they can’t trust you, you won’t be making deals.
So be honest about how you and your company can serve your prospect or client. Be direct, offer a real value proposition, and research competitive offers to explain why yours is better.
Listening can also help you earn clients’ trust. Listen to what they have to say – and actively hear it. Try to find ways to solve their pain points and problems – how can what you’re selling be the answer to their issues? Be genuine, and these business relationships nurture deals.
5. Follow up
Following up is one of the most important steps in making a deal. It’s the part that may move you from initiation to negotiation, or negotiation to closing a deal. It gives insight to your prospect or client about the way you work, showing them that you consider them a priority. Everyone wants to feel catered to and important, and following up can lead to more sales and even to referrals which could land you other clients, too.
According to data from IRC, 80% of sales are made after 5 to 12 points of contact. This means you’ll have to do quite a bit of back-and-forth and following up before you can close a deal. So the sooner you start getting comfortable with following up, the better.
Follow-up emails and calls should always be personalized and thank the lead or customer for the previous meeting or chat. Make sure to ask your potential client questions, like if they have any questions or have run into any issues, offering them context to how they can respond to you to continue the deal-making process. Follow-ups should always include a call to action about how to move forward and get closer to making deals. Keep it professional but also be personal – address the lead or client by name, and make sure to include the right greeting and sign-off appropriate to your business relationship and point in the sales pipeline.
Bottom line
Using these tips, you’ll be able to win over your prospects, turn them into clients, and find the best way of making deals. Remember, sales deals are all about forming relationships. So move slowly, take all the right steps, and don’t forget to follow up – and watch as those deals close one by one.
Do you want to know more about sales trends? Check out our article!
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