Win - Closing Deals and Converting Opportunities

This is where everything you’ve worked on so far starts to pay off. The “Win” stage is all about closing deals by helping your prospects make confident decisions and guiding them across the finish line to a purchase.

“Your job isn’t to push - it’s to help them say yes”

Common Mistakes When It Comes To Closing Deals

I'm getting ghosted after sending proposals

If prospects go quiet, you may have introduced your solution too early. Take a step back, revisit their needs, and reach out again.

I'm struggling to get buy-in from decision-makers

You’re probably not speaking to the right person (despite what they may have told you), or you’re not engaging them early enough (to gain their trust and buy-in). Map out the “buying team”, identify what resonates with them and tailor your approach.

Talking more than listening to my customers

I'm talking more than I'm listening

Ssshhh! Winning is about active listening. Use small talk to build trust and rapport, but lean into questions that help your customer do the talking, and let them talk.

I pitch the benefits in sales meetings but my customer doesn't seem moved or engaged

I pitch benefits, but the customer doesn’t seem moved

Let the benefits sell themselves. Use “Need-Payoff” questions, where you get your prospect to articulate in their own words how they feel your products/service would benefit them. Making the sale feel like their idea, not yours.

Step-By-Step Guide To Closing Deals

Shift your mindset - if you dive in with a load of assumptions, you’ll start pushing your client towards that sale, too fast, at the wrong time, and you’ll likely lose that sale. Winning isn’t about pushing - it’s about guiding. Talk with curiosity, not assumptions.
Use SPIN Selling - Guide your conversations with four strategic question types:
- Situation
- Problem
- Implication
- Need-Payoff
Become an Active Listener - avoid the desire to rush into pitch, or to try to dominate the conversation. Sit back and listen, let your prospect talk, reflect their language back to them, and summarise their needs aloud, so they can hear them echoed back to them.
Master the Follow-up - every call needs to end with a next step - whether that’s booking the next meeting, confirming actions or sending a recap email. Don't waste that opportunity.

SEO Lead Generation Strategy In Action:

Create Content That Solves Problems
- During the planning phase you spent time identifying who your customer is, and as part of this, what their problems and needs are. By writing blog posts, frequently asked questions (FAQs) and landing pages around these, Google (et al) will rank your website higher for the search queries, and your prospects will find you when they’re searching.
Use High-Intent Keywords
- We’re looking for those prospects who are searching with intent to purchase, as such we need to focus on terms and keywords that show high-intent, e.g. “buy” rather than more informational keywords like “how do I” or “how to”.
Optimise Lead Magnets for Search
- Once you’ve attracted prospects to your website, we want to capture their information for follow-up. Make sure you have downloadable guides, templates and checklists, behind a simple data capture form.
Repurpose for Reach
- From one great SEO blog post you can create many social media posts, email tips, LinkedIn articles or videos - ensuring your content is visible and valuable.

What Are Need-Payoff Questions?

Need Payoff questions are when you ask your prospect to describe how your product or service will benefit them. These come after you’ve gone through their challenges and pain points, and after you’ve explored the impact of those challenges.

Instead of you listing all the features and benefits that your product or service provides, your prospect tells you what they perceive they’ll gain - making it more believable and personal.

Why Do Need-Payoff Questions Work?

They shift the focus from problems to solutions
They help the buyer to justify the investment in their own words
They build momentum and emotional commitment to the situation
They reduce the need for “hard-selling”

Examples of Need-Payoff Questions:

Problem	Implication	Need-Payoff Question
Your customer spends too much time on sales admin	It’s delaying deals, frustrating their team and wasting time.	“How valuable would it be to automate that part of the process?”
You customer is missing follow-ups	Leads are going cold and revenue targets are slipping.	“If your team could reduce missed follow-up, how would that impact your results?”
Customer data is scattered	It’s hard to prioritise who to follow-up, or to personalise/automate outreach effectively	“What would it mean to have everything in one place?”
Your customer doesn’t have sales pipeline visibility	They’re not able to forecasting and any attempt is pure guesswork	“If you could clearly see what’s closing next month, how would that help you plan?”

When Could You Use Need Payoff Questions?

Need payoff questions are perfect:

As part of closing a sales conversation - acting as a reminder of the benefits in your prospects own voice and thoughts
After you’ve asked questions about the challenges they are facing
As a lead-in to a proposal or demo follow-up
As part of your follow-up calls to help reinforce value perception

Free Resource : SPIN Selling Script Template

Designed around the proven SPIN Selling Script Template, this script template provides a clear, practical framework to help guide your sales conversations for success.