How often are your deals derailed by the unexpected?
A prospect says, “We need to run this by legal" or "Technically, procurement has the final sign-off."
When faced with surprises, many salespeople blame the prospect. I qualified them. I asked questions. They don't have their shit together.
But if you’re caught off-guard by legal or procurement, you didn’t do your homework. You didn’t ask the right questions. You didn’t go for the virtual close.
After you’ve qualified a prospect, this should be one of the first questions you ask:
"Qu'est-ce qu'il faut pour que vous deveniez un client ?
You're doing two things with this question:
- Exploring the prospect's buying process and
- Encouraging them to imagine a scenario in which they buy your product. We'll talk about even more benefits later in this post.
Want more sales tips for your startup? Get started with my free course.
Example of a Sales Conversation Using the Virtual Close Strategy
This is where you can ask more specific questions, like:
- What’s the average length of a proposal?
- Is there any specific information the proposal should include?
- What’s the average length of a pilot?
- How do you measure success?
Even after you find out the necessary information they need to be covered in the project proposal—they want a 5-page proposal that includes a high-level breakdown of the onboarding process, the pilot will last 1-3 months, and their main KPIs are sales growth and customer acquisition cost—you're still not done.
Why Stopping Too Early Can Hurt Your Sales Process
They've learned a lot about the prospect's buying process and identified some important next steps. But stopping is a mistake. They still haven't arrived at the virtual close.
You need to keep pushing:
Now you have the whole roadmap for success. You understand exactly what it's going to take to close this customer. No surprises.
Key Advantages of Using the Virtual Close in Sales
- You understand all the necessary steps to close a deal
- You guide the prospect through these same steps to avoid confusion
- You explore opportunities to shorten the time it takes to close (e.g., running the proposal by the ethics committee and procurement at the same time)
- You help the prospect visualize a future where they become a customer
- You discover major red flags that could slow down the deal or prevent it from happening
This last reason is why you need to ask for the virtual close as soon as possible. If they say, "We have a 78-step approval process, and our budget is $125 per month," is it really worth your time?
They might also say, "Our budget is allocated until 2020, so we can't buy your product any time soon, but we're still interested in a pilot."
That's pretty good to know, right? You want to discover these red flags in the first conversation, not three months into the proposal process.
Gain Clear Insights by Using the Virtual Close in Sales
Ninety-nine percent of “surprises” are things you could've foreseen if you'd taken the time to understand the prospect's buying process. Remember, when a deal derails, it's likely because you didn't do your homework.
Practice the virtual close. Memorize this straightforward question: "What will it take to become a customer?"
Then, ask the prospect 40 more follow-up questions until they finally say the magic words: "Yes, that's when we'd purchase your product."
Want to learn more about startup sales? Click the button below to join my free startup sales success course:
