posted 15th June 2021
The Best Way to Close an IT Sales Deal
Sales are the lifeblood of any company, and knowing how to close them is what makes the difference between success in business and shutting the doors forever. Because IT sales in particular can be difficult and involve complex deals, it takes special finesse to close them effectively. Here are some of the best tactics for sealing the deal.
1. Share Your Expertise
Customers want to know that the people they're getting into business with know what they're talking about. In IT sales especially, most of the clients that salespeople are dealing with don't know very much about the specifics of how the products and services work, and want to partner with people who do. That means they want to hear as much as you can tell them about what you can give them. By speaking knowledgably about your business and what your IT products and services can offer them, you'll reassure prospective clients that can trust you with their IT matters.
2. Bring in the Techs
A good salesperson knows a lot about the product or service that they're selling, but they'll never know as much as the people on the tech side who do the actual IT work. Because customers want to know that they're putting their money and business into trustworthy, knowledgeable hands, salespeople shouldn't be afraid to put a potential customer on the phone with someone who will be doing the tech work on their account. Customers are much more likely to go into business with a company where they know they can trust the whole team, not just their salesperson.
3. Don't Overpromise
Working in IT sales may give you a better understanding of technology and what it can do than your customers have, but that doesn't mean that prospects don't have a good nose for sniffing out untruths. When you make your pitch to a potential client, they are going to be on the lookout for promises that sound too good to be true. As soon as they hear one, the rest of the pitch is going to fall on deaf ears. Don't try to dazzle prospects by promising too much; instead, impress them by explaining that what you can deliver is worth their money.
4. Create a Sense of Urgency
In order for a deal to be closed as quickly as possible, the customers need to understand why they should hand over their money now, as opposed to later. That's why a big part of sales is stressing the urgency of buying as soon as possible. Common ways of stressing urgency include raising the threat of the competition already having a similar service, the possibility of prices going up, or offering a time-sensitive discount. Each customer is different, so creating urgency in each of their minds means finding which of these triggers they respond to.
5. Give a Deadline
The longer a negotiation between sales and the customer lasts, the more likely it is that the sale won't happen. The more time a customer has between the first pitch and the closing of the sale, the more opportunities they have to talk themselves out of it or try to change the details. If negotiations are dragging, the salesperson should give a deadline for when the potential customer has to respond. This weeds out the prospects who are serious about the negotiations, and those who are just dragging their feet on saying "no."
Every deal is different, and so is every customer. One of the keys to succeeding in sales is knowing how to read each situation and each potential client, and use the strategy that will work most effectively. Using a combination of the tactics above will help with the process, and make closing the deal that much more likely.