How to Close More Deals: 5 Tips to Getting Contracts Signed and Landing Better Clients
Do you want more clients? Of course you do.
In all my years of helping people start companies, the most common question I get from my readers is "how do I get more clients?"
Landing clients is a skill. You can practice and learn how to be a better sales person in the same way you can learn any other skill. Learning how to close deals will increase your revenue, increase your personal income, and give you more options as you grow and scale your business.
In this article, I am going to teach you 5 tips and tactics that you can apply TODAY. These tactics will help you land better clients.
Let's get started.
Why Do Companies Fail?
Companies fail because they run out of money.
You can fix any other problem except for bankruptcy. Companies can pivot, or adjust their product to better time the markets, or even change their services and hire new employees.
As long as you have money, anything is possible.
I'm telling you this so you see the urgency and importance of generating new sales. Sales are the lifeblood of your company. You need clients and you need to always be signing new clients, because no client will stay with you forever.
As the owner of the business, your absolute biggest focus should be to continue generating sales. Got it?
If sales are so important, why do most business owners avoid sales?
Last week, I wrote about the lizard brain and how evolution has wired your brain to avoid being vulnerable. The lizard brain is what's keeping you from being a better sales person for your business.
Sales can be terrifying. I've seen people get physically sick during sales meetings.
To avoid doing direct sales, business owners fill their calendars with work that makes them feel like they are trying to grow their business. This might include escape routes such as ...
posting 5 times a day on social media to build awareness
taking another course
attending networking events
praying and begging God for help
I started with this talking point because you need to understand that the tactics I am about to teach you will not work if you aren't willing to get in the game. The anxiety that comes with sales can be crippling. You may think "I don't want to come off like a sleazy sales person." But that's not what true sales is about.
Sales is about offering your service in exchange for a fair market price to a person who will greatly benefit from the service you're providing.
Sales is a matter of alignment more than it is about talking people into doing something they don't want to do. It's a mandatory skillset. You can't succeed in business without generating new sales. So get your head in the game and commit yourself to improving your skills. It's uncomfortable, but necessary.
Now brace yourself. Take a deep breathe. You can do this.
#1 - Make Your Intentions Known
No sales strategy is going to help if no one knows about your business.
The first step in getting new clients is making yourself available. This means you have to take advantage of every opportunity to let the world know you are in business and that you offer services in exchange for money.
If you willingly put yourself out there, attach accountability to your name, and create conversation about your business, you will be ahead of 99% of the businesses you compete with.
Everyone you speak to should know that are available for hire.
The mistake most young entrepreneurs make is they are too passive in their marketing. You might publish blog posts or create social media content, but if you're not actively promoting your business and your services within your content, no one is going to hire you.
People aren't mind readers. They won't know about your services if you don't tell them.
SO TELL THEM!
I call this "the value trap." The value trap is a losing game where you constantly provide free content, do free presentations, and give free consultations without explicitly announcing that you have a business and that people should hire you.
When people are stuck in the value trap, they assume that if they give away enough stuff and "provide enough value," that new sales will come as a result. But it's simply not an effective strategy.
The value trap is a race to the bottom. You need to put yourself out there and the world needs to know what you do and what you want.
For the next 30 days, I want you to focus all of your efforts on making your intentions known.
Every Instagram video you make should end with a CTA that says "want to work with me? You can reach me at www.yourwebsite.com."
Put flyers in your local coffee shop that promotes your business. Be sure the flyer has your picture and contact info.
Tell everyone you know that you are actively taking on new clients and ask them to please refer business to you.
Send out one cold email a day to someone in your industry and let them know who you are and what you sell. (It doesn't even matter if they reply to you, what matters is that you take the action step.)
Most people aren't even willing to tell the world what they want.
I can't stress this point enough.
By following this 30 day challenge, you will make tremendous progress in your journey to get more clients. I'm positive you will get at least one phone call, lead, or referral sent your way. In all probability, you will land one or two new clients.
#2 - The Upfront Contract
The upfront contract could be the single most valuable lesson I've ever learned in sales. Let me give you some context.
Have you ever spent hours talking to a potential client, and have them say "let me think about it?" That phrase can kill your morale.
At some point, you've probably been in a position where you worked on a sales pitch and spent hours answering questions, only to discover that you weren't pitching the decision maker.
Or worse, maybe you were working for weeks on landing a client only to discover that the potential client was using you as leverage to get a better price with another company.
The upfront contract solves this problem.
Simply put, the upfront contract is a script you read (after you've built rapport) that lets your prospect know that you do not waste time with people who aren't ready to make a decision.
For instance, I may get a phone call from an interested prospect asking to book an appointment with me. Before that initial call ends, I will say something like ...
"Mrs. Smith, before we hang up, I want you to know that I am very excited about our next meeting. I promise you that I will take as much time as you need to answer every question you have. I want to make sure you are completely educated with the information you need to make the right choice for your business. All I ask in return is that by the end of the phone call, you either give me a yes or a no in your decision to move forward with me or not."
Usually, there is a moment of silence and then they will reply.
For instance, they might say ...
"I would need some time to think about it."
In which case I would say ...
"Okay, then then I suggest you to review all your other options before we get on the phone call."
Or they might say ...
"I would need to ask my CEO first."
In which case I would say ...
"No problem, in that case, I suggest we find a time where your CEO is available to join us for a phone call."
The worst case scenario is the prospect tells you that they aren't willing to give you an answer without thinking about it, which means it's not a good fit in the first place. You've already offered to give them as much time as they need to answer every question they have. You don't want to work with people who need to think about it. It's a warning sign. Trust me.
A professional will respect you enough to give you the answer you've asked for. Even if the answer is no, meaning they decide not to hire you, you've done your job as best you can and most likely are able to walk out of the sales meeting with a new relationship and maybe even a new friend. This is completely acceptable.
What this method does is filters through the people who were never serious about hiring you in the first place. The upfront contract will save you hours and hours of time. You will now be able to spend that time on tasks that truly matter.
P.S. - I can't take credit for the upfront contract. I learned this technique when learning the Sandler Sales System. The best sales book I ever read is You Can't Learn to Ride a Bike at a Seminar. You should buy this book at read it.
#3 - Mirroring and Listening
The people you're talking to want to hire you. They are looking for a reason to hire you, that's why they're talking to you. The sales call is rarely about convincing people to sign a contract. It's more so about giving them certainty about what will happen when they do.
The best way to portray certainty is to address their pain points, and the best way to find their pain points is by mirroring.
Mirroring is a simple technique where you repeat the last few words of the sentence back to your prospect in the form of a question.
Here's how it works.
Imagine you're a personal trainer. You're on the phone with your prospect and they say ...
"I'm looking for someone to help me build more muscle and get more tone in my arms."
Then you repeat the last few words back to them, with a higher pitched inflection in your voice to insinuate a question. So then you would say ..
"More tone in your arms?"
Then they might say ....
"Yes, I have this beautiful spaghetti strapped dress I want to wear so I want to get my arms in better shape. I have an event in June that I want to wear the dress for."
Then you would say ...
"Oh wow that's so exciting. You have an event in June?"
Then they might say ...
"Yes. To tell you the truth my new boyfriend is bringing me to a barbeque and his ex girlfriend is going to be there. So I want to be in tip top shape for the event."
Do you see what happened there? Your prospect doesn't actually want to get her arms in shape, she wants to look good for her boyfriend at an event where her social status may be on the line.
By mirroring her, you have discovered her pain point and all you have to do is guide her through how you would work with her to get her ready for the event.
The sale practically closed itself.
Mirroring has some practical advantages as well.
For instance, mirroring is a safety net to keep you from getting stuck. Sometimes in conversations, you will find yourself being lost for words.
In that case, simply mirror the other person.
If you mirror them with a question, they will feel obligated to reply. You will buy yourself some time and even discover additional information to help you quickly draft a response.
Also mirroring makes people FEEL like they are being listened to, appreciated, and respected. People will warm up to you and your personality.
If you're ever at a party and you want to try to improve your small talk, try mirroring in conversations. With this simple technique, you're continuously giving people permission to talk about themselves. All you have to do is sit back and listen carefully.
Mirroring will be the most useful tool in your sales toolbelt. Use it often. Don't be shy with it and let the prospect do the work for you.
#4 - "Are You Ready to Get Started?"
By this point, you are well on your way to becoming a better sales person.
You're learning to build rapport and you're learning how to pull information from your prospect. Things are going great.
So what's left to do?
ASK FOR THE DAMN SALE!!!
I will never understand why people go through so much trouble to pitch their services, and then walk away from a meeting without asking for the close.
If you're not willing to ask for the close, then why bother wasting your time in the first place? If you're anxious about this part in the process, I have a secret method for you that will save your butt when you need it most.
Let's imagine you've gone through the entire process. You've built rapport, you've discovered pain points, you've put together a proposal, and you're ready to get the deal signed.
You're prospect is waiting for you to ask them for the close.
Instead of fumbling around awkwardly and tip toeing around the issue, simply say ...
"Are you ready to get started?"
This single line has helped me generate millions of dollars in sales. I never end a sales call without saying it.
Always ask your prospect this question before the call or meeting comes to an end. Never end a sales call without asking for a close. The worst thing that can happen is that they say no.
This sentence is your closing line. It is your lifeline. It is the difference between being a desperate wannabe and a successful confident business owner.
Close the deal. And use this simple question is your fallback point to help you get through the make or break moment in the process.
#5 - Create Strategic Partnerships
With strategic partnerships, you can build an army of people and businesses who are incentivized to see your company grow.
Two years ago, I read a blog post by David Sacks. The article is called Simple Math to Set Up a Sales Team.
The article teaches you how to build an internal sales team. It's called the 10 / 10 / 10 method. Here's how it works.
You assign a quota to your sales rep. Let's imagine that you assigned a quota of $100,000 to your sales rep. So you're rep is expected to hit $100,000 a year in sales.
salary is 10% of of quota, which means the sales rep's salary is $10,000
commission is 10% of the quota, which means if the rep hits their quota, their commission will be $10,000
I loved the simplicity of this article. However, I knew I wasn't in a position to hire a sales rep. I do all of the sales at Stodzy and I have yet to find myself in a position where I felt overwhelmed.
But at the same time, I knew I wanted to build a team of people out there "hunting" for new business. So instead of building a sales team, I built a strategic partnership program. The program gives 10% monthly commission from revenue that was generated through a referral from my strategic partner.
If I close a deal that was referred to me from one of my strategic partners, then the SP get's 10% of the revenue every month.
Typically, I'll close a deal for $5000 a month, which means my strategic partner gets $500 a month deposited directly into his or her bank account every month. Not bad for simply sending a text message.
I have one SP in my network who makes an extra $30,000 a year. All she has done is sent a few email introductions to me and other people who are in need of my services. The best part is that I am happy to pay that commission because it means I don't have to pay salary for sales reps.
And guess what? You can do the same thing!
Strategic partners can do the prospecting for you. This way, you're main focus is on closing the deals and you don't have to spend so much time filling your pipeline with potential new business.
For instance, if I were a personal trainer selling digital coaching, I would network on Twitter with nutritionists and cut deals for them to send me referrals for people interested in my services. Or if I were a copywriter, I would network on Twitter and make relationships with social media agencies who may be willing to refer clients who need specific copywriting services for their landing pages.
The agency should be happy to refer you business (as long as you do good work) because they will be getting 10% of the commission, month over month.
Building a network of strategic partners is a long term play, and once you start doing it, you have to be in it for the long haul because other people are putting their reputation on the line by sending you business.
Everyone involved will benefit from this method.