How to Close More Online Sales Through the Magic of Questions

No one can deny that sales closing techniques are absolutely vital in face-to-face selling. But often, people ask me if they can apply my powerful closing techniques to online marketing. My answer is an unequivocal, "Yes!"

Of course, there are some closing techniques that are more applicable to the Web than others -- but I'll show you magical closing secrets that can dramatically increase your web sales, and rapidly increase your online income. This works best on direct response websites - i.e., those that focus on getting an immediate response in the form of an order or lead.

Before we get started, I must emphasize that much of the sale is made in the presentation. The close is largely determined by how well you've presented the product to the prospect. Your objective, then, is to take the prospect smoothly past the point of closing, making it easy for him or her to come to a buying decision. You can accomplish this with the strategic use of questions.

The All-Important Opening Question

When you're selling online, you don't have the benefit of interacting with your prospect the way you would in face-to-face selling. Therefore, the first thing you say in your web copy has to be something that breaks preoccupation, grabs attention, and points to the result or benefit of your product.

At any given moment, your prospect's mind is preoccupied with dozens of things. Therefore, a well-crafted question will cause the prospect's thinking to be directed to what you have to say.

Your opening question must be aimed at something that is relevant and important, and at something that your prospect needs or wants. What do sales managers, for instance, sit around and think about all day long? Increasing sales! Therefore, if your target market consists of sales managers, here's an example of a question you can use as a headline or as the first part of your copy: "How would you like to see a method that would enable you to increase your sales by 20% to 30% over the next 12 months?"

When you ask such a question, the first thing that pops into the mind of the prospect should be, "What is it?" - whereupon you've captured his or her attention, and you can then begin to articulate how your product or service can solve the need posed by the question. Plan your opening question carefully. If your opening question fails to break your prospect's preoccupation and grab their attention, they will click away before giving you the opportunity to present your product or service.

Questions That Keep Them Involved

Questions are equally vital during the presentation, i.e., in the body of your web copy, for clearly explaining how your product or service solves your prospect's problem in an easy, fast, or cost- effective way. Therefore, install questions within your sales copy that capture attention. Keep your prospect involved, and keep his mind from wandering off in a different direction by using intriguing questions that grab his lapels and jerk him toward you. For the length of time that it takes a prospect to answer a question in their mind, you have their total attention. The prospect is drawn more and more into the sales process as your questioning proceeds. If your questions are logical, orderly and sequential, you can lead the prospect forward toward the inevitable conclusion to purchase your product or service.

Tip: Never say something if you can ask it instead! Think of how you can phrase your key selling points as questions. The person who asks questions has control!

Closing Questions that Presume the Sale

Just as questions are important at the beginning and the body of your web copy, they are even more vital at the end in gaining a commitment to action.

The key to asking a closing question is confident expectation. You must skillfully craft your question to convey that you confidently expect the prospect to say, "Yes" or to agree to the sale.

For example, you can pose the following question in your web copy: "When would you like to start using <NAME OF YOUR PRODUCT HERE> to multiply your profits?" In other words, you don't ask if they want to buy your product, but when. This way, you're asking for the sale expectantly, and the more confidently you expect to sell, the more likely it is that you will sell.

Tip: In crafting your closing question, include the benefit that your prospect will get from your product.

When you ask a compelling closing question, you diffuse the tension that normally creeps up on your prospect at the "moment of truth." A prospect's tension leads to the hesitance that kills so many sales - both online and offline.

To be truly persuasive in the selling process, learn to use questions judiciously throughout your web copy. Instead of trying to overwhelm your prospects with reasons and rationales for doing what you want them to do, ask strategic questions instead. When you take the time to plan the wording of your questions, your prospect will become more interested in your product -- and consequently, you will make more sales.