7 Must-know tactics to increase Sales Closure ...

The New Quarter is starting. 

The anxiety sets in. 

Last quarter was good; how is the new quarter going to be?

The pressure is more in the current quarter.

The outcome of the last quarter was good. 

It is tempting to start with sorting and re-looking at the pipeline. 

I get it. I feel you. Been there. 

You are on the right footing. The nervousness is justified. Everyone including the seasoned ones feel the same. 

Yes, even those who have grey hair … 😀 

Strategy, team work, trust and execution are icing on the cake. 

Here are 7 Must-know tactics to increase your sales closure, grow revenue, get noticed in the company, get promoted and build a fulfilling life. 

Most of my pointers are aligned towards b2b enterprise sales. Rest of my sales friends, use your own salt; in pinches/ buckets. 

1 - Get to know your lost deal reasons. 

You should always have your lost deal reasons handy. Study lost deal reasons for the last 1 year. The more the better. This information may be there in your CRM; if not speak with sales team members who have been involved in these deals. Weekly/ daily sales standups are one of the best sources of this information. I said to study these reasons. The reasons because of which you lost deals may be different from the actual reasons deal losing. 

2 - Engage with the Support teams/ unhappy customers. 

This may come as a surprise to you. Sales team and support? I understand that in enterprises it is very hard to get and collate information regarding issues raised by customers through support. AI tools, AI meeting notes and tools which summarise customer calls will help. But get a gist of what existing customers are raising as issues. Existing customers and users are already speaking with your prospects; you are just not aware. If you know the issues which existing customers are mentioning, you are better prepared to handle those as objections from prospects during sales closure. Get to know and nourish the unhappy customers … 🙋

3 - Ask for referrals. 

Gangsters know gangsters. Yes, your existing customers/ users know more companies than you have in your pipeline. You may have more companies in your pipeline but your customers know 2-3 other customers who are thinking about buying similar products. Your existing customers have their own network and if you ask the right questions you have a very high chance of getting a referral. And referral is a game changer. 

4 - Market not just the customer, but the customer use cases as well. 

Most of the prospects know what customers you have or are working with. They can see it on social media and other places. What they are looking for is which customer is using the product for which specific use case? What are the successful results they are getting? How are these use cases analogous to what they are expecting in their company? This includes case studies as well … 👍 

5 - Validate that demos are coming from ICPs. 

We should never lose sight of this. Where the customers may come from? Company size, designations, industry, vertical, executive connect, geography, need for compliance,or many similar variables can be tested and validated for best results. 

6 - Focus on 2 or maximum 3 channels. 

Lead quality is not a myth. However, it is very hard to gauge the quality of lead, buying intent and probability of sales closure within the coming quarter. Understanding where the prospects are coming from who are closing is of utmost importance. We need to find similar prospects. It is very easy to get spread thin across many channels and lose out on a quarter. 

Even one channel is also fine in certain cases.

Focus, Focus, Focus … 💰

7 - Get to know the depth of the pipeline. 

At the start of every quarter review the pipeline. Apply BANT/ similar filters. Use MQL, SQL and other approaches. After sorting through the pipeline, do you have sufficient pipeline and progressed prospects both in the terms of volume of customers and dollar value for the quarter? Example - if your demo to closure % is 20; then are those 20% prospects are of dollar value equal to your quarterly quota? 

I am sure these 7 Must-know tactics to increase Sales closure helps …    

Let me know if I have missed any … 🏆

PS - when you close a quarter; you feel the next day is a nice and bright sunny day. Hense, this picture which I took in 2024.