Why Sellers Fail to Close Deals In the End

Ian Altman discusses why sellers struggle to close deals, emphasizing that the key to success is building trust and focusing on the client's outcome from the initial meeting. He highlights three common buyer concerns: trust, problem severity, and better alternatives. Altman advises sellers to "disarm" clients by showing genuine concern for their results rather than just making a sale. He suggests asking questions about success metrics and potential obstacles, which few vendors do. This approach, known as same-side selling, can lead to faster sales, less price sensitivity, and more repeat business if executed effectively.

• Offering discounts or creating false urgency heightens buyer concern and appears desperate.
• Asking transactional questions like decision makers and contract mechanics instead of outcome questions.
• Using the term "closing" instead of framing sales as opening a relationship.

• Disarm by making the client's outcome more important than the sale.
• Early in process, define success metrics to measure outcomes together.
• Ask about potential obstacles to achieving results to build shared focus.
• Reinforce trust and confidence throughout the sales process so clients see outcome focus.
• Delivering results drives repeat and referral business.