You are in a Sales Conversation with a prospect. The discussion went well and mostly covered features, benefits, and how they relate to the prospect’s use cases. But now what? Should you push for the close?
If you’re not sure, it’s best to ask, “What are the best next steps?” But in many situations, you don’t need to ask explicitly because the prospect has already told you they want to move forward.
During the conversation, the prospect decided if they want to move forward with the purchase or not.
The decision influences the following questions. Instead of asking more product-related questions, they start to give you so-called buying signals. Buying signals are questions that indicate the purchase.

Here are seven of the most common buying signals:

“Can I try the product?”

Especially in the B2B world, prospects want to give your product a try before purchasing. Get them set up with a trial right after the call. Agree days where you check in with each other to make sure everything works as expected.
If you offer services, such as consulting, provide a small Proof of Concept (POC) that allows the prospect to get a better feeling for you and your work. A PoC could be a paid white paper or consulting on a well-scoped sub-project.

“How can I pay?” (using a Credit Card, PO Invoice, …)

Or also “Can I pay via Credit Card?”, “Do you accept Purchase Order and Invoice?”

They are clear to get this done today, and now they want to check out.

Pricing details

“Do I need to sign an annual contract?” “Can I choose a monthly commitment?”

Explain your terms, and ask specific questions if the prospect requests unusual pricing details, such as a monthly contract (when you usually do yearly or multi-year deals).
Go over your payment terms.

Asking, “Where do we go from here?”

The prospect decided to move forward and wants to know about the next steps on your side. Do you require a trial? Do you need business information for a quote?
Discuss all information you need on your end, as well as their next steps. Do they need to involve other departments such as legal? How can you get a PO Number or get listed as a vendor? Do you need to provide any other necessary paperwork?

Send me a quote with everything we discussed

Clear signal to move forward. Summarize all talking points of the discussion and ask for any additional information you might need for the quote, such as an address or contact person.

Asking about additional services, such as extended support contracts or the like

The product is a good fit; now the prospect wants to know how well you can take care of them around your actual offering. Ask specific questions to understand their needs here profoundly. Why do they think they need additional support? What are their motives? Services like support contracts are a lucrative additional revenue stream. Even if you don’t offer anything like that by default, ask more questions to understand the prospect’s requirements and develop an extended offer satisfying the prospect’s needs.

Asked for Case Studies, reference customers

How well could you help other customers in the past? Make sure you have references available you can share. Some of them might require explicit, written approval.
Also, try to find people at the customer’s organization who are open to discuss their experience with you with your current prospect.

Now it’s your turn. Go out and listen carefully to these buying signals in your next sales conversations.

Does your business and sales process have different buying signals, and you’d like to get your strategy to the next level? Get in touch to discuss your requirements and how we can work together.