3 easy steps to close a deal like a ninja 🥷

The best sales person is the one who talks the least.

Whenever you think sales, always trace back to the quote above.

I take this quote seriously so I meant to make this a quick sales guide. Let's get started with 3-step sales.

Content:

Introduction
Step 1: narrowing down your person-of-interest (POI)
Step 2: cold emails & cold calls
Step 3: always be closing

Introduction

You're new to sales or your sales process is not yielding. No problem. This is a guide to do sales correctly in order to yield the right response. Good sales will tell you whether you're solving a problem for your customers or not. And that's crucial for your business' survival.

Good sales + people buying = you've cracked the code
Good sales + people not buying = product has no place in the market, let's pivot
Bad sales + people buying = congrats, you're on a gold mine (very rare)
Bad sales + people not buying = bad product or bad sales? no one will ever know

Think of your customer as a representation of the market's demand. When you do bad sales, you're pitching the product too much and not extracting insight from the market. The point is not to close the deal, but to know whether there's a fit between the product and your customer.

That's why sales is not glamor and charm, it's problem solving. The first rule of problem solving is to ask questions about the problem to fully understand it before you tackle it. The problem in sales is to figure out if your customer needs your product. All you have to do is ask them questions to understand their problems. That's all.

The One Big Rule: Ask Questions

Their answers will lead you toward 3 results:

your product solves their problem
your product doesn't solve their problem
they have other problems you can solve, either by shifting your product or building something new

The more you hit #2, the more you know there's something wrong with your product. The more you hit #3 and the problems they're telling you about are repeated by other customers, the closer you get to a better product.

Step 1: narrowing down your person-of-interest (POI)

Companies all have an info email or a phone number on their websites or on Google. So that's your chance to send a probing email or do a probing phone call.

A probing reach out is to get someone in the target company to guide you to your POI. You say something like:

"I'm [YOUR NAME] from [COMPANY NAME] and we're [SHORT SENTENCE ABOUT WHAT YOUR COMPANY DOES]. Can you refer me to the best person to talk to about [WHAT YOU DO IN ONE WORD, e.x. email marketing]? Much appreciated!"

The more you probe, the more you understand the anatomy of companies big and small. For example, I used to approach companies to provide meal plans to their employees. I discovered I can go through the office manager for small companies and VP People & Culture at bigger companies.

Step 2: cold calls & cold emails

After probing, you should be able to get the contact information of your POI. This is where real sales comes in.

Call them up or send them an email to schedule a phone call. Best that the POI is expecting you, but never shy away from a straight up cold call.

Here's a general script that's proven reliable for me:

Introduction 1.1:

“Hi [CONTACT NAME], my name is [YOUR NAME]. I’m [YOUR ROLE] at [YOUR COMPANY NAME].

Is this a bad time to talk?”

If Yes: then ask when is a good time to reach you. (Schedule a time to call back)
If No: then continue.

Introduction 1.2

“We’re a company that [ONE SENTENCE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO]. Are you focusing on [A PROCESS THAT'S RELEVANT TO WHAT YOU SOLVE, e.x. email marketing, employee health & wellness, A/B testing, etc.]”

If Yes: then begin asking questions to understand how their internal processes look
If Yes but not at the moment: they’ll still probably ask you what you’re offering, otherwise ask what their priority is right now.

General Qualifying Questions

How much does it cost you to do [SAID PROCESS]?
Do you have an allocated budget to do [SAID PROCESS]? If so, how much is it?
How many hours/people does it take to do [SAID PROCESS]?
Do you use any tools to do [SAID PROCESS]?
Have you noticed any drawbacks in the tools you use to do [SAID PROCESS]?
Is it a priority for you to do [SAID PROCESS] faster, cheaper, easier?
If I can [PROVIDE THE VALUE-ADD OF MY COMPANY], would this make it easier for you to use [MY TOOL]?

Conversational Scheme

Here, you’re in the green zone. The contact has begun to answer your questions and they’re probably posing their own questions also.

NOTE: Never answer their questions directly, because that puts you at a dead end afterwards. You’re the only one that must lead the conversation. Answer their questions with questions first and in the process provide them with answers.

Example

Contact: How much does your service cost?

You: Sorry, before I answer your question, what service are you using right now?

Contact: We are using this service but there are limitations here and there.

You: And how much on average does this service cost monthly?

Contact: Usually between $X and $Y.

You: We definitely have a better offer for you guys. Our service is $Z. I’m curious, do you know the tech stack your development team is using?

Notice in the example above, the contact initiated the question about the cost of our service. But every piece of information you share must come as a PUNCH LINE! That’s why we avoided answering the question until when we’ve made it clear to them that the service they're using is way too expensive in comparison. Then we continue with another question because we must stay in control of the conversation.

Step 3: always be closing

What does it mean to always be closing? As soon as you qualify a lead, ask for the close. Don’t wait till the last second and embrace rejection. Know that the “No” is coming.

Example

You’ve qualified a lead after a few questions and you’ve shown them the value in [YOUR COMPANY].

You: “Seems like you guys are a great fit. I’ve shown you how [MY COMPANY] can be an effective and an affordable solution for you, are you ready to take the next step?”

If the lead doesn’t agree, they will say things like “they need to speak to their team first” or “run it by someone else.” Take the hit to the chin and explore with them what the road to a close looks like. Ask them what they need to do before being able to start using your service. Hold their hand through the process.

By all means, the ideal close is the paid plan. Do everything in your power to close with a paid plan. If they're eager, they'll get started right away. You can incentivize them with a discount if they seem hesitant. If there’s nothing you can do and a free trial or a demo is the only trick up your sleeve, use it. Even if it prolongs the sales process.

Here are some great resources to get you ready for closing:

And that's that friends. Sales is not complicated. It's just about asking questions to gather information, and information is power. It gives you control over your conversation with your customer and it's a way to get the customer to speak out about their problems. Once they're saying them out loud, they're in a position to want something better. That's where you come in by being the simple and cute antidote that you are.

Happy day!