Closing feels hard because the buyer and the seller want different things. The buyer wants to know two things: will this get me what I want, and can I trust this person? The seller mostly wants to get paid.
That gap is built into every sales call. Over 27,000 doors, $100M+ in sales and 50,000 clients, I have learned how to close it, and the biggest move happens before the call even starts.
Step 0: Pre qualify the prospect
Remember the pen scene in The Wolf of Wall Street? Donnie tries to sell a pen to a guy who has zero interest, gives up and throws it back. You can’t create interest out of nothing. Sell only to people who already want it.
Build that interest before the call through:
- Organic content and YouTube videos
- Paid ads
- A pre call application
- Emails and texts
- Communities and Facebook groups
A prospect who already has interest is far more likely to buy. I used to think I was bad at sales. Really, my prospects weren’t ready. When I made the application stricter and cancelled low interest calls, my close rate doubled.
Veteran reps know this. They let rookies burn time on uninterested buyers and keep the best prospects for themselves.
1. Intro and pre frame
Get them to like you fast. Two ways:
- Let them talk about themselves. People love being listened to.
- Relate to them. Sports, travel, kids, cars. Similarity builds trust.
2. Discovery
Don’t read off a list. Ask questions that get them to commit to buying without realizing it, so the decision feels like their idea.
- Why now? Why today? Why not in a year?
- Are you ready to move forward today?
- If it’s a fit, what would make this certain for you?
- How much money have you lost by not taking action?
If they’ve been stuck six months on something worth $10K a month, that’s $60K. Use it later.
People don’t want to look like liars, so early commitments make it hard to back out. And never tell them what to do. People resist being forced.
3. Summary
Repeat back everything they committed to. It reaffirms the commitments, proves you listened and makes them feel understood.
4. The three pillars
This is the most important part of the call. Start with the ideal outcome. In business, it’s making as much money as possible with as little work as possible. In fitness, it’s losing weight with as little effort as possible.
Then build three reasons to buy. Usually two are what makes you unique and the third is why they should pick you. Frame each one as “they do this, we do that.”
Think of a perfume clerk. One just praises every bottle. The other explains the bad options and why the best one is better. You trust the second.
Here is how we pitch our own business:
Pillar 1: Offer creation
Most owners are told to sell low ticket offers. Without a big following, they struggle. We help create premium offers. Fewer clients, better clients, higher pay.
Pillar 2: Conversion conversations
Most people rely on webinars. Only about 30% of email openers show up, and most of them don’t book or buy. We use a multi channel follow up system with texts, emails, voicemails and DMs. It increases application rates by over 57%.
Pillar 3: Why us
- Experience. More sales than our competitors means more lessons learned.
- Specificity. You wouldn’t learn golf from Michael Jordan or basketball from Tiger Woods. A real estate company should hire a real estate expert.
- Attention. Four hours with Bill Gates’s team beats five minutes with Bill Gates. A founder promising to work one on one either isn’t as good or won’t keep it up.
If you’re a smaller business, flip that last one. You can give personal attention that big teams can’t.
For fitness, my pillars were “eat what you want without sabotaging results,” “train how you want without sabotaging results,” and why me over an in person trainer or a cheap one size fits all program. Then: pay a one time fee, or $50 a month for life?
5. Brief overview
Say exactly what they get in plain terms. For example: one on one support, curriculum, templates and done for you materials, group calls and a private account manager.
A confused prospect can’t decide. Leave zero room for a no.
6. Certainty check
Ask why they think this is a good fit now that they’ve heard everything. If they hesitate, they aren’t sold. Stay here until certainty rises. If they answer with confidence, you’ll hear it in their tone. Move on.
7. The close
Say the price with confidence, then stop talking. A long, nervous lead up kills confidence.
8. The only four objections
If you did everything right, there are only four:
- Price. About 70% of client issues. Isolate it, double tie down (“if we figure out price, you’re ready today?”), then ask about cash on hand, not retirement accounts. Know your minimum, like $2,000 on a $10,000 program. Don’t drop the price right away. It signals desperation.
- Spouse. “What if she says no?” Usually it comes back to price. If not, ask whether she wants them happy and whether they’d support her in the same spot.
- Time. Do you trust us? Does this get you closer to your goal? Do you have the resources? Then make the decision you’ve already made.
- Belief. Worst case? Results, a performance based refund, or doing nothing. Only doing nothing keeps them stuck.
If they’re still stuck, ask if they’re 51% yes or 51% no, and offer a fully refundable deposit. Push no more than three times, then wrap up and keep the rapport.
The takeaway
Sales is persuasion, and doing it ethically is what protects your reputation long term. Most of the work happens before the call. Fill your calendar with people who already want what you sell, then run the same eight points every time.
Do that and you have covered most of what sales training will ever teach you.
Want to know what’s capping your business right now? Take my free 90 Day Ceiling Plan. Answer 18 questions and get a written plan, built on your own numbers, that names the one thing holding you back and what to fix first.
