Whether you are selling B2B or B2C, a small business or a large corporation, a simple or complex sale the prospect’s buying journey will always include important buying signals. Miss the buying signals and the salesperson can make the fatal mistake of talking themselves out of a sale.
Here are some of the essential buying signals that will tell you it is time to stop selling and start closing
1.Clarity Questions
When buyers start to ask questions to clarify the offer or the product such as, ‘Who will be my day-to-day contact?’, ‘When could I expect delivery?’ these are clear indications that the buyer has a real interest in your product or service.
2. Pain Points
When a buyer asks question related to a specific issue or problem such as, ‘Will this software work with our CRM?’ this demonstrates serious consideration. The buying is imagining how this product or service will work for them in a practical sense.
3. Guarantee Questions
When a buyer asks for the guarantee, they are trying to understand reliability of your product or service and is probably close to buying.
4. Delivery Date Questions
These types of questions may show that your prospect has already decided that you are the best choice and is eager to buy. A good reply would be “when do you want it?”.
5. Contract Questions
When the buyer starts asking about the terms and conditions they are likely ready to make the purchase and only need to check a few minor boxes.
6. Price Questions
Be careful with this one! A buyer will always ask about price if they have developed an interest in purchasing. The trick here is that price is also used as a quick question close the conversation. Avoid answering this question until you have fully presented. If a price question comes early respond with, ‘Our pricing includes… and our product is a practical (quality, luxury, full-service) solution and is competitively priced at…’.
7. Payment Questions
When the buyer asks you questions like the terms and payment options, chances are they are already thinking of buying your offer as they are visualizing how they would pay.
8. Company Questions
When a buyer asking about how long your company has been in service or if you’ve had transactions with other businesses in their area likely show that they want to check the reliability of your company. This usually suggests that they want to buy and just need certainty that you’re the right supplier.
9. Power Questions
The moment the buyer asks you some version of “what do we do next?”, it means that you have already closed the sale.
A buying signal, even a very strong one, isn’t necessarily your cue to dive into a close. Nobody likes being “sold” and if they start to feel like you’re pressuring them, they’re likely to push back.
So, do not hit the prospect over the head with your most powerful close, try easing them into the purchase. If you get a strong buying signal, and you feel it’s right, it might be a good time to use a trial close. If the prospect responds well, you can go ahead to the close. If not, you still have the option to back off a bit and continue with the sales process.