When it comes to sales closing techniques, there’s no one-size-fits-all playbook.
Some sales reps prefer a gentle nudge, giving prospects the space to arrive at their own decision. Others take a more direct approach, using confidence and clarity to guide the conversation to a close.
The trick? Having a mix of techniques in your back pocket. Every customer is different, so being adaptable is your secret weapon.
In this post, we’ll walk through some of the most effective B2B sales closing techniques, helping you expand your toolkit and close more deals. Let’s get started.
What is sales closing?
Sales closing is the process of getting a prospect to commit to buying your product or service, which usually means signing your contract.
In B2B sales, this rarely occurs in a single action — a gut reaction to your “Buy now and your life will change forever!”
Instead, sales closing is a stage in the sales pipeline in which you execute a series of sales activities that push the prospect from highly interested evaluator to excited customer.
Typically, the sales closing phase includes (often in this order):
- Asking for the sale
- Sending a proposal
- Handling objections (check out the most common sales objections)
- Contract negotiation
At the start of the closing stage, the prospect is well-nurtured. They’ve sat through presentations and demos. They know the value you offer.
But they still need to feel comfortable dedicating part of their budget to your solution. Like that friend who loves the idea of backpacking through the woods for three nights but won’t actually set a date—they need some convincing.
Fortunately, there are some time-tested closing techniques and phrases to kickstart the closing phase and convince them to seriously consider the offer.
These fall under the “asking for the sale” step.
If you get this right, the rest seems easy, like asking for the date versus agreeing on the time and place. Once you have that initial yes, everything else is less tense and more cooperative.
5 sales closing techniques that still work (+ example phrases)
Read on to learn the five best sales closing techniques — assumptive, soft, scale, summary, and test drive — as well as when to use them and some closing phrases you can steal to pull them off.
1. The assumptive close
Well-suited for challenger sellers, the assumptive close is when you assume the prospect is going to buy and then act like it.
Instead of asking the prospect “are you ready to purchase?” you ask assumptive questions like:
- “When do you want to start onboarding your team?”
- “How many pieces of equipment do you want?”
- “How about we set an implementation date for June 1st?”
The confidence exuded by this technique can be incredibly infectious, motivating the prospect to act. Generally, it works best when you are pretty certain that the offer is a great fit and that the prospect knows this to be the case.
Ideally, ask these assumptive questions immediately after the prospect has expressed excitement about your solution. Otherwise, they might take your assumptiveness as a sales ploy rather than an authentic and plausible reaction to their obvious enthusiasm.
2. The soft close
The soft close is the opposite of the hard sell: an aggressive style that used to be popular but now rarely works unless you’re naturally built for it like Jordan Belfort.
The soft close is an antidote to the increased tendency among buyers to get defensive when confronted with pushy sales tactics.
The goal is to make the buyer feel like you’re a consultant trying to identify the best option for them. This is huge when 84% of business buyers expect sales reps to be their trusted advisors.
Below are some non-pushy questions you can ask to evoke that feeling of partnership:
- “Would you like my help in solving [prospect’s big pain point]?”
- “I think this is a great fit for helping your business [prospect’s goal]. What do you think?”
- “What do you want to do next?”
The soft close works well on buyers who prefer to come to decisions in solitude, away from outside influence. You can often tell if someone has this buying style based on how they’ve reacted to other requests you’ve made during the sales process.
Did they always take a few days to email back? During the discovery call, did they say “let me think it over” before scheduling the live demo? If so, consider using the soft close.
When they inevitably do the exact same thing and say “let me get back to you,” you should agree with them and give them some content that will help them in their solitary analysis.
The best content?
Case studies. Send some over that demonstrate how customers like them have achieved incredible results with you. This way they feel like they’re convincing themselves.
3. The scale close
The scale close is essentially a temperature check on the prospect’s readiness to buy.
You ask the prospect “on a scale of 1-10, how ready are you to buy our solution?”
Here are some variations:
- “So, I think this is a 10/10 fit. How about you, on a scale of 1-10?”
- “If I were to send over the contract today, how comfortable would you be signing from 1-10?”
The scale close accomplishes three key things that help you close the deal:
- It gets them thinking about buying. By being forced to say a number, they really have to consider how well the solution would fit their needs.
- Their answer provides you with valuable information that will guide how you go about closing the sale. If they say three, you still have a lot of work to do. If they say ten, well hot diggity, it’s time to get paid!
- The question paves the way for more discovery questions, the answers to which should tell you exactly what you need to do to close the sale.
To illustrate, the next question you’ll likely ask is: “What do you need to see from us to get you to a 10?”
In the best case, they’ll lay out what they need to learn or air some objections and concerns, which you can then address, moving them closer and closer to 10.
| Related post: 23 Effective Sales Closing Lines & Techniques That Seal the Deal |
4. The summary close
Simple, eloquent, common sense — the summary close is a timeless closing technique where you summarize what you’ve learned so far about the benefits of the solution for the prospect. Then, you ask for the sale.
Here’s an example:
“To review, you came to us wanting to solve [pain point] because it was costing you [problem]. We’ve reviewed a lot of potential solutions. It seems like [proposed solution] would be the best fit as it would help you [benefit 1] and [benefit 2], without [prospect’s main cause for concern — e.g., having to do custom integrations]. How do you feel about moving forward and working with us?”
This technique is great for long sales cycles where you cover a lot of features and packages. Late in the sale, the prospect might be overwhelmed by all the options, or forgetful of all the benefits and features.
The summary close synthesizes all you’ve discussed into one offering that will best satisfy their needs.
The prospect will appreciate you for this summary as much as you appreciate someone for carrying the burden of keeping score in a backyard badminton or cornhole game. They’ll also feel like you truly understand their needs, which makes them trust it’s a good purchase.
5. The test drive close
The test drive close gets its name from the closing tactic in car sales where they let you get behind the wheel and take it for a spin.
This technique works because it creates a sense of ownership in the prospect.
After smelling the new leather, zipping down the highway, and seeing themselves happy in the rearview mirror, they feel like this is their car, and they are less likely to want to give it up.
We’re territorial at heart.
The test drive close also makes the prospect trust that your solution does what you say. They’ve experienced it firsthand.
You can apply this close to pretty much any type of sale. You just have to give them a way to experience the product or service in a low-risk environment.
Below are some examples:
- SaaS: Let the prospect use the solution in a free trial or interactive demo.
- Consulting/marketing services: Give the prospect a free, small-scale service that makes them want your service more – e.g., an SEO content agency could give a free SEO audit that tells the business what they need to do to improve organic traffic.
- Commercial RE: Take the prospect on a tour of the facility and help them imagine how they’ll set it up.
Use this close to people who seem skeptical about the effectiveness of your solution. A free run might be the evidence they need to see you not only talk the talk but also walk the walk.
How to leverage technology to close more deals
The right technology can be a force multiplier for your closing techniques.
Sales tracking software, for example, allows you to monitor online prospect behavior so you can identify the right time to ask for the sale, thus boosting the likelihood they say yes.
Below are some of the best software tools for boosting your close rate:
Email tracking: if you know when and how often your prospect has opened up your proposal email and attachments, you can follow up appropriately. AI smart send identifies when a buyer is most active in their inbox, increasing the odds they see your proposal.
AI real-time alerts: Set up rules in your sales engagement tool to notify AEs when a prospect takes a specified action, like downloading a sales contract. Then the AE can strike when the iron is hot. Check out Mixmax’s real-time alerts feature.
SMS: During the close phase, when prospects are reviewing the proposals and talking with fellow decision-makers, they tend to have a lot of questions. If you have permission, take this conversation to text. It’s faster than email and far more personal.
Sales collaboration tools: Use a tool like Sidechat to seamlessly collaborate with your teammates, manager, and product experts to get the deal across the finish line.
Use video tools: Consider using Sendspark to record a video in which you ask for the sale. This is a great approach for more transactional sales where a meeting isn’t essential for a close. (P.S. They have an integration with Mixmax).
A note on sales engagement software
Many companies wrongfully assume that sales engagement software is only for SDRs.
But there’s a lot of prospect engagement AEs have to do, and sales engagement tools can help them automate and track those late-stage interactions.
To increase the effectiveness of your closing process, consider adding a tool like Mixmax that’s designed for the entire revenue team.
How to choose the right sales closing technique
Finding the right sales closing technique for your sales style often comes down to trial and error.
You test out the assumptive close a couple of times. It feels off.
So you switch to the scale close and feel confident delivering it, and that confidence rubs off on the prospect.
Over the next month, consider choosing two and rotating between them. You’ll learn so much about who you are as a salesperson and what vibes with your personality and your customers.
