Closing is a loaded word. There’s pressure (self-inflicted) and it’s risky for sure…but there’s a pay off is cash flow! And, well if you aren’t closing you are having lots of conversations that don’t reward you.
Avoidance boils down to 4 things. These are broad brushstrokes but many women struggle with at least one of them at some time or another. They are:
1) We hate endings. Endings are final and we like good things to go on.
2) We are sensitive to rejection. Men get used to being turned down by women at a young age and they lick their wounds and say… NEXT, faster!
3) We don’t like rocking the boat. We like relating and believe asking people to spend money and decide will make them mad.
4) We can’t get what we want–– and if we want business badly we’ll be let down.
Now that the elephant is out in room lets deal with it. Closing is a natural progression of a job well done. Make it to a 3rd conversation and its time for your sake and theirs to preserve time and energy and move them towards a decisive narrowing-conversation. You are either in the running or not.
Be straightforward and ask, “how about doing it?” or “would you like to move forward?” or “are we ready to give it a go?” Try the royal “we” to soften it. There won’t be a surprise here if you’ve been engaged in a couple of discussions —they know you want to do business. If there are objections address them and ask if that answers it. If you don’t ask to do business you look unprofessional or lacking confidence. Stay relaxed you are on the way to the finale. Don’t ever get so intense that you jeopardize rapport. You may want to go back later and you don’t want to leave a bad taste in their mouth.
Remember: Without risk there are no rewards. The mantra that helps me rebound from discouragement is this: some will, some won’t, so what, who is next? Next time we will talk about when it’s time to disqualify and call it quits.
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