Want to learn how to close sales without being pushy? Well, if you spend enough time around top sales people, you’re almost guaranteed to hear wise sayings on the topic.
You’ll hear things like “only fools rush in for the sale.” And you’ll hear about how patience and listening is the name of the game.
And it’s true. There are ways to close the sale without being pushy. And I’m going to dig into them today.
So without further ado, let’s discuss the best tips and tricks to close more deals without being pushy. Keep these in mind and you’ll have your prospects practically begging to sign on the dotted line.
7 Ways to Close More Sales Without Being Pushy
#1 – Focus on the prospect, not on you
Take your time getting to know your prospect and their pain points. Instead of redirecting the conversation to you or your product, keep the attention on them throughout the sales appointment. The time will come when you will share the value of your offer, but even then, you should focus on the prospect’s needs, not yours. This can really help to eliminate pushiness in sales.
#2 – Make your prospect feel comfortable
This might seem obvious, but many salespeople miss this in a big way. Do what you can to make your prospect feel comfortable from the start. Try using a bit of humor or small talk, and meet them on some common ground. Maybe you found out Mr. Prospect likes to play golf. Find a way to naturally bring golf into the conversation. Tennis? Chat about tennis. Knitting? Chat about knitting. Sales is built on trust, and you can’t trust someone you don’t feel comfortable around.
#3 – Don’t overcome objections with the word “But…”
“But you have to keep in mind…” and “But think of all the benefits…” Anytime you lead with the word “But” you will come across as pushy. Doesn’t it just remind you of little children bickering? “But mommmm…” This is a telltale sign of an obnoxious and pushy salesperson. Instead of leading with “But…” first empathize with their viewpoint, and ask another question to your prospect.
#4 – Get your prospect’s buy-in
When you get your prospect’s buy-in, you’re asking them to cooperate in closing the sale. It’s a winning partnership. This can be accomplished with poignant questions, like “so what I hear is that you want to increase revenue by next quarter, is that right?” You get their buy-in by getting them to say “Yes” to multiple questions. This is the opposite of being pushy.
#5 – Allow your prospect to speak – and listen!
The pushiest sales people are constantly flapping their jaws. They simply can’t stop talking, and this comes at the cost of losing the sale. Instead, let your prospect speak and listen empathetically. This will build trust and show that you truly care about them. All along, they will be building their case for why they absolutely need your product or service. Another win-win.
#6 – Take “No” for an answer
I know what you’re thinking – this goes against everything you ever learned about sales. The thing is, sometimes the sale just isn’t there. Whether it’s the wrong timing, it’s not in their budget, they don’t have the authority, etc. Sometimes, you can live to sell another day if you let “No” be “No”. If you don’t “cut the line” at some point, your pushiness will give sales people everywhere a bad name. It’s not worth it. One thing you can do to get fewer “No’s” and more “Yesses”, though, is qualify your prospects better.
#7 – Remember, only fools rush in
If you want to close more sales without being pushy, you should keep this saying in mind: only fools rush in. Make it part of your self-talk as you walk into the sales meeting. A rushed close is a botched sale. It might seem counterintuitive, but taking your time will actually close the deal faster, and it will instill confidence in your new customer concerning your product or service.
Use Creative Tonality to Avoid Being Pushy
One of the best ways to avoid being pushy is to use tonality to your advantage. I’ve written at length about how to master your tonality, and it’s worth a refresher here.
You see, most pushy salespeople maintain a pretty intense tonality during the sales meeting, always in the ‘high’ range, and not allowing for moments of rest or silence. To avoid this mistake, vary your vocal inflection from high to low, low to high. And vary the speed at which you speak from slow to fast, fast to slow. Go from speaking loud and confident to speaking soft and confident.
The idea here is to get creative with your voice and inject emotion into the conversation, always drawing the decision maker closer into your story or pitch. This works wonders when cold calling and setting sales meetings, too.
In fact, you should use tonality no matter where you’re at in the b2b sales cycle. Better yet, you should leverage tonality for all conversations in business and life. You’ll be surprised at how this can dramatically increase your sales and persuade people into buying what you’re selling.
Final Thoughts on How to Close Sales Without Being Pushy
So there you have it. To close a sale without being pushy you should focus on your prospect, make them feel comfortable, never overcome objections with “But…”, get your prospect’s buy-in, let them talk (and listen!), sometimes take “No” for an answer, and remember that only fools rush in to close a sale.
You should also use the art of speaking (tonality) to stack the deck in your favor. If your tonality is too intense for too long, you will definitely come across as pushy, especially when talking with c-level executives. But if you vary your speech patterns throughout the presentation, you will build trust and have a better chance at closing the deal.
So take these tried-and-true insights on how to close sales without being pushy and put them to work for you and your sales team.
Until next time…
Johnny-Lee Reinoso
