Part 1: What concern about selling comes up most for consultants? My experience suggests the answer is asking clients to make a decision. a.k.a. closing.
Part 2: Why is closing a concern for consultants? My observation is the move from ideation conversations is uncomfortable for them. a.k.a. entering the groan zone.
So, how do you make closing comfortable. Here are four ideas to try.
- Execute what David A. Fields calls the turn. Example words: “We’ve been talking about and seem to agree on the issues. Those are exactly the things my consultancy work involves. How open are you to a conversation where we talk about your business … and whether I can play a role in helping you achieve your goals?”
- Qualify importance and urgency. This is more direct and allows you to check how ready the client is to move on. Then you can pivot the conversation into next moves and how you might help. The example words. “We seem to agree on these issues are important. Are they urgent too?”
- Offer a high-level approach. This is especially useful when if you’ve shown your implementation expertise. The client may appreciate you taking the lead. This is more direct still with these example words. “We have a short assessment and benchmark which cover the issues we’ve discussed. Would you like to start with those before progressing with a business case?”
- Asking for feedback using a scale of 1-10. This is my favourite techniques for closing a session. It’s direct but soft too. Here are the example words. “May I ask, on a scale of 1-10 how useful has this conversation has been to your agenda? And then on the same scale how likely are you to ask me to work with you further?” Using this format you’ll find out if clients are picking your brain, or prepared to get down to business.
You can combine these ideas if you want to. And you can use them to close a meeting, or somewhere in the middle to change the direction of the conversation. They’ll work for both.
The mini-mission
Your mini-mission for this week is to pick at least one of the ideas and apply it during a meeting. Let me know how you get on.