Hey, 👋 Scott from The Sales Mastermind here.

Today’s edition only takes 2 minutes.

Imagine sitting on a demo when the seller asks, "Any questions…"

You respond, "No, looks good."

Of course, you don't have questions; it was all clear (in the moment). Or maybe you did have a question but didn't want to appear an idiot by asking.

Now flip it… chances are this is 90% of your sales calls.

From the seller's angle, it is evident:

• What they are showing.
• Why they are showing it.
• How it applies to the buyer's pain.

From the buyer's angle, they're often thinking:

• What is going on on this screen?
• Why did we start here, and why did we end there?
• I just wanted to learn about XX. Why is he showing me YY? I'm lost…

Introducing the Soft Close.

As sellers, we have conversions about our product and the pains we solve all day, every day.

Your buyers, however, may only be thinking about this problem once a week. To make the informational imbalance worse:

• It might be their first time as a business buyer.
• It might be their first time looking at this category.
• It almost certainly is their first time buying from your company.

Therefore, your job is to lead the buyer.

And like a good leader, you want to regularly "check-in" on everything you're teaching them.

Checking in is the process of Soft Closing.

What is a Soft Close?

A Soft Close is the questions you ask to move a conversation forward when pitching or presenting.

In practice, it can be before presenting, such as during a Discovery Call (link to disco call outline) when you run a mini demo.

Or you can Soft Close after presenting something:

Soft Closing is a crucial part of leading the buying journey. It should be ubiquitous throughout every sales call. More early Soft Close questions prime the buyer to answer your later questions.

How to use Soft Closes

Fundamentally, a Soft Close has two purposes:

• Reengages the buyer
• Ensures you move at a pace that matches the buyer's ability to follow

I've found the best time to Soft Close is before you say anything (as in the example above), as it primes the next step with the buyer without them even realizing.

Alternatively, as soon as you finish a mini-pitch, Soft Close.

That way, you keep the pace to match the buyer and ensure they follow how your solution helps solve their pains.

Soft Close Question Examples:

Done well Soft Closing leads to Closed Won deals. When not done, you have no idea if your pitch is landing or if the buyer is following along.

Let me know:

Until next week,
Scott Cowley

PS If you want to see how/if I can help with your sales efforts, consider Booking a Call.

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