131: Higher Power Close
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Hey, 👋 Scott from The Sales Mastermind here. Today’s edition only takes 2 minutes. This week, we apply "If you ask for money, you get advice... If you ask for advice, you get money" to close some deals. Today we’ll cover:
Storytime In 2026, no buyer makes a buying decision without at least asking for feedback from a trusted advisor. Sometimes the advisor is a boss, a supervisor, an assistant, a mentor, or a colleague. And as the ​TV show Utopia​ perfectly parodies, no one asks a trusted advisor for feedback without already having a direction they are leaning toward. This week, I was the trusted advisor to one of my clients who was considering ramping up lead generation (yes, we're working on the tips, tricks, and techniques that I teased on Saturday). My client sent me a deck, an ROI calculation, and a Loom video that a cold-call agency had provided to try to win his business. It would have been a ~$5,000 monthly investment for at least 6 months (i.e., $30,000) just to run as an experiment. However, my client wasn't convinced of the risk. Ultimately, I suggested that we focus that money on sponsouring a few local events, in exchange for speaking slots, as my client is a machine on stage. And now that you know your buyers are asking for advice, you can use the Higher Power Close to remove any underlying objections before they even reach their trusted advisors. Higher Power Close Many buyers will avoid a question directly asking them to buy, especially if they are inexperienced. However, most buyers will provide indirect insight into what “other people” might say. The Higher Power Close involves asking the buyer about any hesitations they believe their boss/senior leadership/board/any higher power might have about the purchase. Realistically, any reservations your buyer raises are either their personal objections or things you’ll need their help to address before presenting the deal to a higher power anyway. Script: Question 1: “If it were up to you, would you want to start soon or delay, or what are you thinking?”
This question has two answers:
Question 2: “OK, great, if you were to present this (alternative: this pricing) to your boss or senior leadership, what pushback would they have?”
No matter what they say, push deeper. Ask questions such as; “What else?”
“Why do you think that will be a pushback?”
“How do you recommend we solve that?”
“Help me understand how you would answer that for them,” etc.
At this point, your buyer will give you their real objections. Deal with them one by one and close the deal. Whether you close the deal, move it forward one step, or it implodes spectacularly - every sales call should end with a closing technique. The Higher Power Close is just one example; I'll share more over the coming weeks. Until next week, PS: When you're ready, here are three ways I can help you get out of the founder-only sales trap:
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