Overcoming the Fear of Closing a Sale

Overcoming the Fear of Closing a SaleOvercoming the Fear of Closing a SaleYou put in a lot of work prospecting, qualifying, building rapport, designing a proposal, and delivering presentations, and now its time to close the sale. But maybe your palms begin to sweat. Your heart starts beating faster. Your stomach begins to churn. You become increasingly self-conscious. Youre afraid to do it. Sound familiar? Youre bedrngnis alone. This scenario describes how many sales professionals feel when theyre trying to close a deal. But thankfully, anyone can move through the fear to a confident close with the right approach and mindset. Remember Your Why Take some time to look past your sales quotas and commission goals and remember why you do what you do. Think about what makes you passionate about the product or service that youre selling, and list the ways that it ultimately helps people. This is your why. If you approach every close as a chance to personally ensure that a prospect is ha ving their needs met and their problems solved - a chance to help and serve them - then it can suddenly seem a little less scary. Yes, a sale does result in a profit, but more importantly, it results in a happy customer. Dont Get Discouraged by a No Hearing no from a prospect doesnt necessarily mean that you should give up and move on. If you ask for a sale and receive a no, it doesnt mean there will be no sale. It often means that the prospect needs more information or you need to help them more clearly see the value of the product or service youre selling. Fear of rejection is often a major source of anxiety for salespeople. In most cases, you shouldnt abandon a close after getting the first - or even third - no, although you may be tempted to. Instead, keep building rapport, asking and answering questions, demonstrating value,and showing your prospect that you can provide the solution to their problems. Finding out why the prospect gave you a no will help you better understa nd a prospects needs so you can better explain how you can meet them. Many successful salespeople look at a no as an opportunity to get to a yes. In fact, you can even ask a prospect what it would take to turn that no into a yes. Have a Plan for Handling Objections By the time you get to the close, you should have a comprehensive understanding of your prospects needs and demonstrated how you can meet them. If you asked the right questions, then you should also have a solid understanding of all of the possible objections that could come up during that particular customers close. If you know the possible objections, then you can prepare responses to them. Or better yet, you can try using the preemptive strike method - bringing up and then busing objections before the prospect even has a chance to do it. You can prepare responses to common objections you see across customers, but also make sure youre able to handle any objections that are particular to that company. Prepared salesp eople are confident closers. Brush up on how to close a sale, whether youre a beginner or a veteran. Get to know at least three basic strategies for closing a sale. Only Promise What You Can Deliver Making promises that youre elend certain you can deliver on is bound to cause any salesperson anxiety before the close. But if you enter a closing conversation knowing that you have not over-promised and do not run the risk of under-delivering, then itll be easier for you to view the close as a natural part of the business cycle. While you shouldnt fall prey to the attitude of being owed a sale, you can go into the close with more confidence knowing youre done the best you could do to earn the business. Know When its Time to Move On Even the best sales professionals in the world understand that no one can close every sale. Remembering that can help take an awful lot of pressure off your back. And the more relaxed you are during a sales close, the better off you and your prospect will be. If you asked for the sale a few times and cant get the prospect to become a customer, you may need to regroup, develop a new strategy and take some time away from the prospect. Anxiety is often caused when trying too hard to close a deal or trying too often to close a deal that just cant be closed. If you have approached a closing opportunity with a positive attitude, knowing that you have delivered your best and that your proposal is a sound one that makes business sense and your customer simply says not interested, it may be time to move on. Remember The Close is Not the End Another cause of closing anxiety is the belief that closing is the final step of the sales cycle. Closing a sale is actually a chance to begin a new kind of relationship with a prospect. Once you ask for and earn a sale, they become a customer - hopefully a loyal, repeat customer that can be a positive reference for you in the future.

College experts share 8 points of wisdom not taught in a class

College experts share 8 points of wisdom not taught in a classCollege experts share 8 points of wisdom not taught in a classIt takes a combination of tangibles and intangibles to succeed in todays dynamic and ever-evolving business world. Competition is fierce. Not only do employees and job-seekers need to reach their mark through performance-measured benchmarks, to achieve continued job success an engaging personality and relationship-building skills are needed. Weve asked professors and administrators at several universities throughout the nation to share their words of wisdom that arent found in lectures or in textbooks.Be eager to learnYour anfhreres and colleagues are teachers conveying information that you have to know. You have to understand that you will be tested on it under the most stressful of circumstances, says Steven Miller, coordinator of undergraduate studies for the Rutgers University Department of Journalism and Media Studies in New Brunswick, NJ. Your grade will b e your paycheck, he says. If you want to earn the highest mark the most money - you have to pass all of the exams with the highest marks. If you want to be held back, dont perform at 100 percent, he adds.Be a networking superstarEffective networking is vital to job success. This is true for students of any age, including adult learners, says Laura Sankovich, faculty chair, MBA, where she oversees operations for the MBA at Capella University in Coeur dAlene, ID. She recommends volunteering on committees and says networking with chambers of commerce and professional organizations specific to your career or area of study is essential to broaden your network.Volunteering on committees gives prospective employers an opportunity to see your work in action, Sankovich adds.She also points out that students of all ages can feel like earning the degree is enough, but thats rarely the case.To set yourself apart and give you the best opportunity to get the job you want in the career you desir e takes networking and volunteering to show prospective employers what you have to offer, she continues. These steps will keep you top-of-mind when the employers in your circle have a need. Who knows? They might even create a job just for you.Be willing to take on more workHaving a strong work ethic will make you shine. Its working both smarter and harder, says Thao Nelson, senior associate director, undergraduate career services, at Indiana Universitys Kelley School of Business in Bloomington, IN. As a manager, I notice when staff come early and stay late. So show up and work hard, you will get noticed and rewarded. Nelson advises to say yes and take risks. Raise your hand for projects and assignments, even if you feel youre not qualified or ready, she says. You might fail, and thats okay. If you make a mistake, own it, and learn from it. Eventually, you will be the go to person.Realize your boss can be your best advocateNelson says to make your boss shine and you will too. Your bo ss is your best advocate, so its important to make them look good without coming off as a kiss-up, she explains. Offer help when you can.Mind your body languageWhat you say is only part of what you are communicating when interacting in the business world. Body language can be a powerful tool for career success, given employers may interpret your level of interest in a position within just seconds based on your nonverbal signals, says Stacy Moore, director of career services, Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, PA.From the firmness of your handshake to your facial expressions, posture and eye contact, these subtle cues can go a long way when it comes to conveying your katechese and value to a potential employer, she added. Be sure to make eye contact during a handshake, stand/sit up straight and become aware of your nonverbal cues to ensure you are communicating the message you intend.Ask for what you wantRegina Luttrell, Ph.D., assistant professor, public relations, at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY, states to never be afraid to ask for what you want. Use your voice, speak up, and ask, she says. Is the worst possible outcome a no? Perhaps. But unless you ask, you will never know. Sometimes, that ask is a door that opens.Be tenaciousAlthough professors can teach students their craft be that writing, pulling together reports, campaigns, or data theres more to do, Luttrell says. We cant, however, teach a student to have the drive and willingness to go above and beyond, to be curious, or take chances, she continues. Those qualities must come from within the person.Negotiate your salaryYou only get one chance, says Luttrell. Use it well, she stresses. This is especially important for females. Once a person is hired standard raises tend to fluctuate between 2.5% 3%.

A Cheap Way to Convert Vapor into Fresh Drinking Water

A Cheap Way to Convert Vapor into Fresh Drinking Water A Cheap Way to Convert Vapor into Fresh Drinking Water A Cheap Way to Convert Vapor into Fresh Drinking WaterMIT engineers have devised a new ordnungsprinzip that captures water wasted in clouds of vapor by zapping droplets with a beam of electrically charged particles. The droplets can be collected and then reused in a power plant or sent to a citys water supply system for a low-cost supply of water.A prototype of the system that will serve as a full-scale pilot is being installed at MITs main utility plant and scheduled to start up this fall. The natural gas co-generation power plant provides most of the campus electricity, heating and cooling.The work is the fulfillment of a vision of mechanical engineering professor Kripa Varanasi, who wanted to come up with an electrodynamic approach to help solve the worlds serious water issue that affects every continent and billions of people. According to the United Nations, there is eno ugh fresh water on the planet for seven billion people, but because it is distributed unevenly and much is wasted, many regions are chronically short of water.Varanasis idea was to develop some sort of device to capture water wasted from vapor where air is laden with water droplets, both from natural fog and the steam plumes discharged from industrial cooling towers. Fog harvesting, or fog collecting, is a known technique to provide a source of fresh water in dry regions. However, success depends on the often uncertain occurrence of fog and the efficiency of the collectors, which Varanasi said is only about one to three percent. Such projects in various places around the world have received mixed reviews.For YouMilitary Looks to Renewables in Battle ZonesVaranasis project began in earnest about five years ago when a student, Maher Damak, joined his team. The the work became part of Damaks thesis for his doctorate, which he earned this year.Researchers capture fog on mesh.Through ext ensive lab experiments the two first began to identify the bottlenecks with current fog collection techniques, which typically uses a mesh material hung in the path of fogbanks along coasts where fog comes in from the sea. In the initial stage, the important thing was asking the right questions and realizing where the problem really was, Varanasi says.People have been focused on changing the properties of the collector itself, but Varanasi and Damak realized that the real problem was actually getting the droplets to the collector. That was a key realization, Varanasi says.They learned that the fog droplets often are carried around the mesh with the airflow, similar to what happens when air flows around an airplane wing, separating into streams passing above and below the wing. Making the wires bigger or the spaces larger would hamper overall airflow and reduce the amount of water collected even mora.We started by figuring out what kind of forces we would need, Varanasi says. Their c oncept was to zap water-laden air with an electrical force in order to overcome aerodynamic drag forces. With the water droplets electrically charged, they can be attracted to the fine wire mesh in their path. The droplets collect on the mesh and drain into a collecting pan.Now you have a much stronger force than the wind, Varanasi says. The fundamental work took about four years. Then almost two years ago, we started to think about what to do next, Varanasi said. In my lab we do basic science research that will change the paradigm of things, but we also think about scaling up to take things to market. I wanted to have a tactical way to have an impact on the water market.Their focus turned to the cooling towers, where water vapor is even more concentrated than fog, making the system even more efficient. The team, which now included another graduate student from Varanasis lab, Karim Khalil, built a small lab replica of a power plant cooling tower stack emitting a plume of water dropl ets and placed their ion beam and mesh screen on it to demonstrate the concept (which you can see on this video).Last year with the system well on its way, the team spun off the project and started a company, Infinite Cooling, to further develop and commercialize the technology. Since then, the project has won several clean energy and entrepreneurial competitions with awards amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The team published an article describing their work in June in the journal Science Advances.The testing at MIT this fall will include using different types of mesh as well as data collection to use in discussions with power plants. The team will continue to monitor and gather data on how water consumption changes with the use of their technology. The device can also be adapted for cooling towers used in HVAC systems in large malls, data centers, hospitals and resorts. For a 250-MW power plant, the device is expected to collect and save over 150 million gallons of wa ter per year, amounting to an estimated annual $1 million in water savings, Damak says.One day soon, Varanasi envisions water farms consisting of rows and rows of cooling towers, supplying fresh water to parched communities and recovering a substantial amount of the currently wasted water. That amounts to some 39 percent of all fresh water withdrawn from rivers, lakes, and reservoirs in the U.S. to cool electric power plants that use fossil fuels or nuclear power and a savings of millions of dollars.Nancy Giges is an independent writer.Read MoreIndustry Tackles Challenges in Mass-Producing Flexible Solar PanelsCapturing and Reusing Wasted Energy with NanopeapodsRecord Efficiency Highs on SolarIn my lab we do basic science research that will change the paradigm of things, but we also think about scaling up to take things to market. I wanted to have a tactical way to have an impact on the water market.Prof. Kripa Varanasi, MIT