I remember one particular occasion years ago when I was running early for an appointment and I was sitting in the foyer outside my client’s office.
The door swung open and my client walked out behind a well-dressed young man in his early twenties.
As he moved towards me, he was rolling his eyes, shaking his head and smacking a brochure between his hands.
“Not a bad product.”
“Probably would have bought the bloody thing if he’d asked me to.”
It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling your services or an appointment, whenever you deliver a presentation in person or over the phone, at the end of it …
Always ask for the business
Asking for the business is the characteristic of a confident, proactive, and professional salesperson.
Once you have established your prospect has a need and you know you have the solution …
Always ask for the business.
Simply say “Let’s do business together.”
Not asking for the business sends a message to the customer that you have a lack of confidence in the value of the product you represent.
And you don’t really care whether or not they buy.
Who could blame the client if they lost interest in you and what you had to offer?
Here are some things to keep in mind to help you to remember the importance of asking for the sale.
If you’ve done a good job explaining all the benefits of your service offering …
You have every right to ask your prospect if they would like the opportunity to enjoy those benefits by becoming your customer.
Your prospect knows your purpose in meeting with them is to try and sell them something.
When you have done your presentation it is your duty to follow through by always asking for the business.
You cannot leave the customer in a quandary
You cannot leave the customer wondering what on earth the point of your meeting was all about.
They have better things to do with their time than just listen to you prattle on without reaching a satisfactory outcome.
If you truly believe in yourself and your service offering you want to make sure you meet the needs of as many prospective customers as possible.
Asking for the sale will help you determine this.
It gives you the opportunity to deal with any concerns or objections you need to overcome in order to get the definitive answer you must have.
To either take them on board.
Or move on to the next potential customer.
The bottom line is there’s absolutely no point in convincing a customer to work with you if you don’t ask for the business.
Never end your meeting with a wimpish “So, I’ll leave it with you.”
Tie up your loose ends.
Always ask for the sale!
You are not being pushy.
Remember that selling is a process of matching the needs of your customer with the benefits of your service.
And that process is not finished until you ask for the sale!
If you found this article interesting, here’s another you might like to check out: WHAT CUSTOMERS REALLY WANT