You’ve just finished your pitch to a new potential client. Are they going to say yes? That depends on how successful your accounting sales strategies are!
There’s a fine line in sales when you give your potential client too much information. They’re ready to close the deal, but you won’t let them. Instead of helping them make a decision, they can get scared away. Obviously this is the exact opposite of what you want and need, so it’s time to work on fine tuning your accounting sales procedure.
Maybe you’re just excited about what you have to offer. You could be excited about a question that they asked you.
Or maybe you’re looking at your income, and starting to feel a little desperate thinking about how you need the revenue.
If you find yourself struggling with talking too much in your sales conversations and scaring your clients away, you’re not alone.
This is a common problem in the world of sales.
In fact, even in the last month, I can tell you that I have missed out on closing multiple sales! One was because a client asked a question and I got lost in my excitement to answer it. Yup, even veteran sales people can make mistakes! But we get to learn from them, so we can do better next time.
It happens to all of us, but there ways that we can prepare ourselves before the sales call so that we don’t lose the sale. If you’re struggling with closing sales and you’re scaring away potential clients, I’m sharing an accounting sales system that can help you stop overselling and close more sales to ultimately help more clients.
Confidence Leads to Influence
When it comes to working with your clients, you must know your value. You must know what you have to offer, and be confident.
When you’re confident in what you offer, you’re confident in your fees, you’re confident in your services, and you’re confident in the results you can deliver, that confidence acts as an influence to your prospects sitting in front of you.
Did you know that 90 percent of selling is conviction, and only 10 percent is persuasion?
When you approach your potential client with the conviction and confidence that you already have the right solution for them, you move into a position of influence rather than sales.
Denise and I like to look at sales through the viewpoint of influence. You’re not selling; you’re influencing your client.
When you sell from the perspective of influence, you may find that the sale comes even faster than expected.
People will want to know that they are working with the best, and that confidence and conviction will help show them that you are the best fit for them.
Confidence can lead to influence, and influence can close the sale!
Don’t forget: Confidence does not equal cocky. Don’t come across as a know-it-all. That will discourage anyone from wanting to work with you.
The Importance of Being Prepared for the Sale
Do you have solid accounting sales strategies plan in place or are you just winging it?
When we just wing it and we don’t have a consistent flow or process, we miss the anatomy of a sale.
When I first started doing sales calls, I had no plan. I was just winging it! That meant that I spent a lot of time talking and didn’t let anyone else get a word in.
If you aren’t prepared, you won’t know what you’re walking into. You won’t even know if the client is ready to make a decision.
But by taking the time to prepare an actual accounting sales process, you’ll be able to make sure that you don’t just talk the whole time, which happens a lot when you’re not prepared.
Being prepared helps you to know what cues your client gives so that you can finish the deal.
Listen for the cues. For example, when a client says, “When can we get started,” that means that they are ready to commit, not that they want to see a proposal. At that point, you need to be offering them your payment options, not just a proposal. You could simply ask: “Would you like to use a Visa or Mastercard today to get started? Which works best for you?”
How Being Quiet Helps Close the Sale
You may have heard the saying “whoever talks the most wins.”
In sales, this is a myth!
In fact, you could argue that the person who talks the least asks the best questions, and that makes them the winner! When I first started out in sales and didn’t have a process, I talked way too much! I missed out on hearing key information that I needed to close the sale.
We’ve talked in multiple episodes of The Abundant Accountant Podcast about how listening is a key part of sales. How can you know how to serve your clients if you spend all of your time talking instead of listening and learning?
The more talking that your client does, the better. You want to be the one listening, asking good questions, and making your clients feel heard and confident in your ability to serve them like no other firm can!
How to Apply Your Accounting Sales Strategies
Here are some handy tips to help you stop talking so you can finally close the sale with your client. These are deceptively simple, and you may think, “That’s it? That’s all I have to do?” But you’ll be amazed at how these little changes can help you close your sales!
Tip 1: Keep a Drink Handy
Got a pot of coffee nearby? Pour yourself a cup! Instead of talking, take a sip of your drink. You know me, I always have my half gallon jug of water or my green juice close by when I am on a sales call. Just the act of taking a sip forces you to pause and not say anything.
Tip 2: Count to Ten
Simple, but effective! Before you say anything, pause and count to ten. This allows the other person a moment to think, or a chance to ask a question, or even tell you they are ready to start working with you.
Tip 3: Ask a Clarifying Question
Don’t be afraid to ask a client to repeat a point! Here are a few questions you can use:
- “Can you repeat what you just said?”
- “Did you just say … ”
- “That is so interesting! Can you tell me more?”
This can be beneficial to you, because it can give you even more information about your client and how you can serve them even better. Your client will be pleased at how much you are listening to them and want to learn about their business!
Tip 4: Put Yourself in a Neutral State
When you’re excited or nervous, what do you do? You probably talk! If you’re experiencing strong feelings about the sales call, it will help to calm your emotions and detach yourself from the outcome.
You want to approach your client on an even keel, not driven by emotions.
Many things can drive that emotional state. Maybe you’re excited about the opportunity, nervous to close a big sale, or maybe even feeling desperate for a new client, and feeling the impact of a scarcity mindset.
Take a deep breath to calm yourself down. Don’t forget that the person in front of you is the person you’re here to help and serve: take your focus away from the outcome of the sale, and focus instead on how you can serve them. When you do that, you change the entire sales process.
Do you have any tips or strategies to stop selling yourself after the client already wants to commit, or have you ever talked a client out of a sale? Share with me below in the comments!
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