Why do some salespeople who are competent, professional and knowledgeable have so much trouble closing? Here are four reasons:

1. They don’t like conflict. Salespeople don’t like conflict. And prospects and customers don’t like it, either. But closing involves some sort of conflict, when one party must ask the other party to take an action of some kind. What follows can include arguments, disagreements, stalls, objections, pressure or silence. Some salespeople are nervous about being too pushy and turning the prospect or customer off. But they mustn’t be, it’s part of their job — and buyers know that.

2. They forget that the “sales clock” has started and don’t slip into their role as a salesperson. Sure, a great way to start sales calls is to engage prospects in conversations about topics (unrelated to business) that interest them. But at some point during a call, the salesperson must slip into his or her roll as the salesperson — turning the discussion toward business.

3. They have trouble becoming high-pressure closers in the middle of a presentation. Some salespeople dislike traditional selling styles that put undue pressure on prospects, so they over-compensate in the other direction and end up not asking prospects to take any action. They back away, not asking for commitment. Salespeople who don’t ask for commitment may avoid the awkwardness of applying pressure to prospects, but they probably won’t close many sales.

4. They tend to not have enough irons in the fire because they don’t do enough prospecting. If salespeople aren’t constantly looking for new prospects to fill the pipeline, all their great closing strategies won’t do them any good. If salespeople aren’t focused on prospecting, having a great closing rate won’t matter — they still won’t be closing enough.

Source: Ted Barrows, President of Barrows & Associates, Bristol, RI

Tags: closing, closing rate, conflict, prospecting, prospects, salepeople, sales calls, stalls