Are You a Bad Salesperson if You Can’t Close On the First Call?

You’re so excited, you’ve finally gotten a new lead…a hot prospect.

Maybe it was a referral. Maybe it was when you delivered your signature talk at a local meeting or maybe you had a great speaking engagement, closed the room and you’ve got a bunch of new leads. Regardless, you’ve got people interested in your work and ready to talk to you.

So you have the sales conversation, excited to talk to this potential client and when the call ends they say those dreaded words, “Can I get back to you?”

Deflated, you feel beyond disappointed that they didn’t sign up on the spot, you were hoping they’d say “Yes” because everything you’ve read and everyone you know is teaching you to close in a 10, 20, 30 or 45 minute call.

So what’s wrong with you? Why can’t you?

Nothing! Absolutely nothing!

Listen, you don’t need to close the sale during your first sales conversation!!!! What? Did I just say that?! YES – I most certainly did. If your sole goal is to close on the first call then you’re approaching your sales conversations all wrong!

There are many experts also preaching that you need to do this and to do it in a 10, 15 or 20 minute conversation. Unless you know someone really well and they’re 95% already decided, you need to give your prospect enough time to make a decision.

Now that decision just may not be able to happen on that first sales conversation and that’s perfectly fine. There’s nothing wrong with you if you have to have a follow up. The more you pressure someone into making a decision before they’re ready the more likely they’ll say no or if they do become a client they just won’t be the right fit.

I close about 8 out of 10 of the ideal prospects I speak with. Mind you, these are all with highly qualified individuals that I often get from my speaking engagements. And guess what? About one quarter of them I don’t close the first time I speak with them.  So how do I end up closing them and more importantly, how can you? 

Simple, if you don’t close them on the call you can do one of two things:

• Option 1: Schedule a Follow Up Call: If they haven’t made a firm commitment to work with you (and you’ve already addressed all of their sales objections, ask them if you can schedule a follow up call to talk further. When they say yes, find a time within the next 2 days to speak further. Book it on the call. Get their number and you be the one to call them. Simply say, “Great I’ll look forward to calling you and speaking with you further then”. Then on the follow up call we discuss their decision and any remaining objections. Often times this is the call that helps them make a commitment to work with me.
• Option 2: Send an Email: Send a follow up via email with everything you discussed. Include a copy of your program and everything you talked about on the call. I often do this for ideal prospects who are about 95% certain they’ll work with me and just need to work out a few behind the scenes financial or decision matters.

These follow ups have allowed me to close a lot of clients and to have the first call be more of an exploratory call to find out more about the person and their needs.

Listen, if you can have a great sales conversation that closes an ideal prospect and you’re able to cover everything you need to and they can make a decision in that time, that’s great. If not, just know you have options. Don’t beat yourself up, relax! It’s not a reflection on you, you just need to find your sales conversation flow and in time you’ll improve closing more ideal prospects on your initial calls too.

Here’s What You Need to Do Next: 

1. In your next sales conversation don’t rush the call. Allow time to be present and fully listen to your prospect. Address their questions and objections and offer your solutions. Step in to truly connecting with them and step away from pushing the sale. You’re more likely to close when you do.
2. Tweet this: “Rushing a sales conversation is a surefire way to lose the sale @JeannieSpiro”

Let’s Hear from You:

In the comments below let me know, what’s working and not working for you in your sales conversations? How long do you typically spend talking to a potential prospect? Let me know below!

xo,