The Five Real Reasons You Aren’t Closing More Lucrative Business Deals with High-End Clients

So I started working on new approaches until I finally figured out the secret formula to getting someone to say, “Yes!” right way.

Have you heard excuses or “let me think about it” stalling tactics from ideal clients that you know could really benefit from your services? If so, you’ll want to change your approach because it’s you, not them.

Let’s dive into five deal breakers I’ve discovered that can get in our way of closing more lucrative business quickly.

#1) Deal Breaker: You’re Afraid to Challenge the Prospect

Why is it that we allow the prospect to tell us how we need to consult, do a workshop, or coach a person? We’re the experts at coaching, consulting and speaking and they are experts at what they do. Too often we’re afraid to push back and frankly tell them what they need to do.

Now to do this successfully, you need to use powerful language that connects the dots between not only what they want, but also what they need, to achieve their business initiatives. For example with a corporate client: “I hear you that you want a corporate workshop, but a workshop won’t change behaviors in the long run. To get a longer-term ROI, you need a workshop, plus some additional coaching to ensure that your participants are practicing the skills learned. If they have a coach to hold them accountable and support them every step of the way, they’ll be more apt to implement the behavior change that you’re asking for.” You’ve got to own this one – be bold enough to tell them what they need without being afraid of losing the sale.

#2) Deal Breaker: The Prospect Doesn’t Trust You to Deliver Results

You tell the prospect all about how great your program or methodology is but after you follow-up with them you find they’ve gone into the great abyss. The main reason this happens is because you didn’t build rapport and trust. They like the idea of getting results but many times they think they can get them all on their own. Companies will start thinking, “Surely, our in-house team can pull off this professional development workshop.” The individual client starts believing they can do the DIY method. They think, “I don’t need this consultant’s help. I know what I need to do, I’ve got this.”

You’ve got to take ownership for this thinking because it means you didn’t spend time upfront asking them the RIGHT questions to build trust and rapport. You go in talking about YOUR services, how YOU can help them, and what YOU do versus talking to them about their challenges, what their future state looks like, and what’s holding them back. If you can get a prospect to reveal their deepest desires, hopes and dreams it shows they trust you above everyone else to help them. So spend more time upfront building rapport and trust, and less time promoting your services. No one cares what you do – they only care how you can help them attain results faster! 

#3) Deal Breaker: You Weren’t Listening in the Present Moment to Ask the Right Questions

I encourage you to have a sales script, but too often I see consultants too stuck to their scripts. The problem with this is you can miss the opportunity to ask questions within the questions, depending on how the prospect answers. If your prospect answers things broadly, you’re going to miss the important, perhaps ugly, things below the surface that are preventing them from achieving their goals.

So owning this means listening very carefully and then knowing when to pivot and go off script. When you hear something that sounds very surface-oriented, ask them to tell you more about it or for an example. When you learn to do this, you’ll have insight into what’s really going on with this individual or company so you know exactly how to position your program or proposal.

#4) Deal Breaker: You Didn’t Mine for the Return on Investment Like A Gold-digger

Many of my clients ask their prospects about their objectives but they are afraid to dig deeper by mining for the ROI. It’s easy to ask surface questions but you need to delve deep with powerful questions. You want to get them to articulate their return on investment for any objectives they have described. Get them talking about how meeting their objectives will help them personally and professionally. Encourage them to think through the numbers, like hours saved or dollars earned, as they consider their return on investment.

The more you can get someone to tell you the real ROI they’ll get from working with you, the faster the deal will be sealed. They’re closing the deal themselves when you get them to answer your powerful questions! In the beginning, you may feel a little ruthless with your questions but don’t be afraid to go for the gold! It can take some practice, so role-play with your coach or mentor. This one tip alone can be the difference between a $5K deal and a $50K deal.

#5) Deal Breaker: You Forgot to Drive Your Conversation So It Goes Nowhere Fast

Your prospect is letting you know they’re interested in working with you, but then the conversation stalls out because you don’t take control. When you are in the sales conversation, you always want to drive the conversation by educating them on the next steps.

If you’re talking with an individual prospect, this could mean sharing three of your programs and then asking them to identify the one that will work best. With a corporate client, it could be setting up the next call to explore more questions, to review your winning proposal, or to determine which of your three alternative solutions is the best fit. Don’t let off the gas at the finish line, you need to own the conversation and drive the prospect to the next step so they stay right on the fast-track with you.

I know from the hard knocks of real-life experience that when you begin to own that you may be the bigger part of the problem than your prospects, you can begin to change how you show up in these sales conversation and seal up the deal with greater velocity. Save these real-deal rules so you can review them the next time you get on a sales call.

Real-Deal Rules for a Predictable Success Sales Call:

1. Challenge your prospect. Remember, you’re the expert at what you do, and they usually don’t know what they need, only what they want.
2. Be conversational in the beginning and ask great questions to build trust.
3. Mine for gold by getting them thinking deeply about the ROI of this engagement.
4. Don’t be afraid to get off script to ask questions within the questions to drill below the surface to find out what’s really going on.
5. Always know exactly where you want the conversation to go and let them know the next step to keep them engaged.

If you follow these rules, you’ll get clients willing to throw their heart, their money and their time over the bar to work with you. What’s the one thing you need to master to become better at closing more deal rapidly? I’d love to hear from you – so simply hit the reply button and let me know what’s the big aha is for you.

If you’d like to learn how to close more individual and corporate deals at a higher rate, please contact me at 1-800-267-3245 for a complimentary strategy session to see how we may be of service to you.