FreshNetworks Blog

Tim continues his series on Selling Social Media.

So we now get to the final phase in the Sales Cycle when selling a social media solution – the ‘Close’. Certainly this is the most enjoyable piece, when all the hard work finally delivers the outcome. If all the previous phases have been followed, then I find that this phase is also the easiest, because you have a proposition that meets the priority business needs and that has been successfully tested for a positive reaction from the client during the Propose The Solution phase.

From the clients perspective then this point is critical. It commits your funds and resources, it also ensures that, at the decision-making level, there will be no misunderstanding, and that all stakeholders (including the suppliers and vendors) will be ‘on board’ with the social media project that has been considered and will now be given the go-ahead.

When delivering the Closing question, the single most important lesson is that, at this point (and only this point!), it is important that your question is a closed question, not an open question. So, you are asking for agreement to proceed with the project that has been discussed, within the timescales and subject to certain preconditions (such as contract terms or technology dependencies). How you phrase the question is completely up to you, but when you have asked it, keep quiet and wait for the answer.  There is no need to elaborate, or to buy extra time, you are simply awaiting a Yes or No.

It is quite timely that this series of ‘how-to-sell-social-media’ blogs ends the year with the final phase, ‘Closing’. Thank you for all your comments and feedback, and I will be adding further thoughts and ideas next year. Happy Christmas!

Read all our posts on Selling social media here.