How to Ask For The Sale Without Being Pushy

In theory, closing the sale should be easy if you’ve done everything right throughout the sales process: identified your customer’s pain points, proposed a solution that addresses their needs and overcome objections.

But for some reason, even experienced sales professionals have trouble asking for the sale without being pushy (or feeling as if they are.)

You’ll need to balance your sales strategy between passive and aggressive. Leaning too far either way can hurt your results. When it comes to sales, there’s a fine balance between being too passive and too aggressive; skew too far in either direction, and your sales results will suffer.

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Why you need to avoid pushy sales tactics and go for a balanced approach

Salespeople don’t always have the best reputation; they’re often stereotyped as aggressive, pushy and dishonest. If this is your customers’ impression of you, can you blame them for becoming suspicious when you attempt to aggressively or over-eagerly sell to them?

If they assume you have an ulterior motive, you’ll lose them before you’ve even had a chance to demonstrate how your solution can help solve their problem. This is why trust, credibility and rapport with all prospects is essential.

Successful sales professionals know how to strike a balance between assertiveness and subtlety. This balance allows you to confidently present your product or service without overwhelming your prospect.

The key is to be clear about the value you offer while respecting your customer’s space and decision-making process. By finding this middle ground, you can maintain a professional demeanor that builds trust and keeps prospects engaged throughout the sales process.

Also read:

• Why Everyone Should Work in Sales at Least Once in Their Life
• Good vs Bad Salespeople
• What Assets Are Needed to Succeed in Sales?

When do I ask for the sale?

Ask for the sale too early and you’ll come across as sleazy, don’t ask at all, and you’ll lose sales you would have closed otherwise. This is why knowing when to ask for the sale is essential. To do this, look for clues that your prospect is ready to buy. These are often called ‘buying signals. These could be asking questions about your product, talking about budget or sharing important information about their needs.

Before you even consider asking for the sale, it’s crucial to establish a strong foundation of trust and rapport with your prospect. People often buy from those they like and trust, so building a genuine connection should be your first priority.

Take the time to understand your prospect’s needs, challenges, and goals. Show genuine interest in their business and demonstrate how your solution aligns with their objectives.

Engage in meaningful conversations that go beyond just pitching your product. By fostering a positive relationship, you create an environment where asking for the sale becomes a natural progression of your interaction rather than an abrupt or unwelcome request.

Remember, a strong rapport can often be the deciding factor in a prospect choosing your solution over a competitor’s.

Also read: 15 Top Sales Closing Techniques To Increase Close Rates

How To Ask For The Sale Without Being Pushy

Now, you might be sure of when to ask for the sale but still lack the confidence to follow through. Keep reading to discover our tips for effectively asking for the sale without being pushy below:

1. Set the stage beforehand

One effective strategy is to establish clear expectations early in your interaction with the prospect. At the beginning of your meeting or demo, outline an agenda that includes discussing next steps or making a decision at the end. This approach primes your prospect to make a choice and naturally leads to your ask, rather than surprising them.

For example, you might say something like, “Today, we’ll go through the features of our product, address any questions you have, and then discuss how we can move forward if you feel this is a good fit for your needs. Does that sound good to you?”

By setting this expectation upfront, you create a smoother path to asking for the sale. It allows you to assume the sale throughout your presentation, guiding the conversation towards a decision point that both you and the prospect are prepared for. This method reduces the awkwardness of the ask and helps maintain a confident, professional demeanor throughout the sales process.

2. Prepare for rejection

One of the biggest hurdles for sales reps when asking for a sale is overcoming the fear of rejection. No one likes to be rejected, but try not to take it personally – just because the buyer said “no” now doesn’t mean they won’t want your product or service in the future.

It just means they’re not ready to buy just yet. Ultimately, the sooner you learn to deal with rejection and failure without letting it affect your outlook or job performance, the better.

3. Listen to your buyer’s needs

Sales professionals should listen 80% of the time and only talk 20% of the time. Of that 20%, half of that should be asking questions, which leaves only 10% for selling and telling. 

Therefore, if you focus intently on your prospect’s information about their problem, you can better formulate a personalized offering that they’re more likely to buy rather than an unappealing one-size-fits-all type of deal. 

Understanding your buyer’s needs goes beyond just hearing their words. It involves active listening and deep comprehension of their challenges, goals, and motivations. Here’s how to truly grasp your buyer’s needs:

1. Ask open-ended questions: Encourage your prospect to share detailed information about their situation. For example, “What challenges are you facing with your current process?” or “How do you see your business evolving in the next year?”
2. Practice empathetic listening: Put yourself in your buyer’s shoes. Try to understand not just what they’re saying, but why they’re saying it and how they feel about their current situation.
3. Look for non-verbal cues: Pay attention to tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language. These can often reveal concerns or interests that aren’t explicitly stated.
4. Confirm your understanding: Periodically summarize what you’ve heard and ask if your interpretation is correct. This shows you’re engaged and gives the buyer a chance to clarify or expand on their points.
5. Dig deeper: When you hear something interesting or unclear, don’t be afraid to ask follow-up questions. Often, the most valuable insights come from these deeper explorations.
6. Connect the dots: As you gather information, start thinking about how your product or service can address the specific needs and pain points you’re hearing. This will help you tailor your eventual pitch.
7. Keep notes: Document key points during or immediately after your conversation. This will help you remember important details and show the buyer you value their input when you refer back to these notes in future interactions.

By truly understanding your buyer’s needs, you position yourself to offer solutions that genuinely solve their problems, increasing the likelihood of a successful sale and a satisfied customer.

4. Improve your confidence

When you lack confidence in yourself and your offering, prospects notice. Imagine two equally knowledgeable and skilled people offering the same product or service. One has a positive attitude, while the other has a negative attitude.

I guarantee that the one with the positive attitude will outperform the one with the negative attitude every time. How do you combat a negative mindset? Write down your most outstanding sales or life achievements. Then, use this as a daily reminder of motivation and inspiration.

5. Leverage urgency

By creating a sense of urgency, you’re communicating to your prospect that it’s crucial to act promptly, decisively, and without delay. Otherwise, you’ll risk losing out on a valuable offering. For instance, “If you decide to purchase today, you’ll be one of the last customers to receive 20% off your entire order.”

6. Share social proof

The great thing about social proof is that it’s your actual customers telling the story of how your solution solved their problems. Prospects are more likely to agree to the deal if they’ve seen other people benefit from your solution.

To achieve this, ensure you have plenty of social proof available when meeting with your prospect. That way, when asking for the sale, your prospects will already feel good about your offering.

7. Use storytelling

Study after study shows that people are more receptive to stories than almost any other type of communication. Our brains not only crave stories but also we remember them. As such, we pass on meaningful ones to others. That’s why incorporating storytelling into asking for the sale is so effective.

You can do this by creating a hero with a name, a personality, and a practical problem to overcome. But, you must take great care when deciding how to reflect your intended message. Ensure your storytelling speaks to your customers. You can do this by including the same hopes, ambitions, fears, regrets, and disappointments they have.

Need help crafting your message? Our unique workshop, Storytelling In Sales, equips you with the knowledge and application skills to plan engaging and relevant business pitches. Get immediate access now and learn how to execute results-oriented pitches. All while demonstrating your ability and track record to solve problems.

8. Attempt a Trial Close

You can always use a trial close to gauge your customer’s willingness to move forward. However, many people are hesitant to try a trial close because they’re afraid of objections, and what’s more – they’re scared of questions. Don’t be! If they’re asking, that means your customers are engaged and interested. So use these trial closes to get a sense of where your customers are at, and it will help you address potential roadblocks and objections while they’re small before they get bigger. For example:

• “Does this make sense?”
• “Have I explained it clearly? Do you understand? Is this clear?”
• “Do you see how this can help companies?”
• “Do you see how this could help your company?”
• “How does that sound?”
• “What do you think?”
• “What’s missing?” 
• “Does this cover everything?”

9. Ask an assumptive close question

While we already know that closing a sale can suffer from either a too-passive or a too-aggressive approach, the assumptive close, also known as the presumptive close, solves this problem.

It’s called the assumptive close because the salesperson assumes the prospect is ready to buy. Instead of the salesperson saying, ‘Are you ready to buy?’ they assume the sale by asking questions like ‘Would you like me to arrange delivery on Monday?’

Ultimately, the assumptive close keeps you in control of the sales momentum by skipping past the question of whether the customer wants to buy. In this approach, you assume the sale is as good as done.

With these assumptive close questions, the idea is that you’re no longer asking permission to make the sale — you’ve already made the sale as far as you’re concerned. In other words, you’ve answered “Yes” on the customer’s behalf. For example:

• “What method of payment would you like to use?”
• “How quickly would you like the product delivered?”
• “Whose name do I make the invoice out to?”
• “How many of these items do I need to put you down for?”
• “What day do you want our technician to do the installation?”

10. Handle objections effectively

When asking for the sale, it’s common to encounter objections. These aren’t roadblocks but opportunities to address your prospect’s concerns and reinforce the value of your offering. The key is to listen carefully, acknowledge the concern, and respond with relevant information or solutions.

For instance, if a prospect objects to the price, you might say, “I understand that budget is a concern. Let’s look at the return on investment (ROI) you can expect within the first six months of using our product.”

Handling objections skillfully can actually strengthen your relationship with the prospect and increase your chances of closing the sale. It demonstrates your expertise and commitment to finding the right solution for their needs.

How not to ask for the sale

We’ve covered how exactly to ask for the sale without being pushy. But be careful not to run into these common mistakes that many underconfident salespeople make:

Rely on incentives to tempt prospects

It can seem tempting to sweeten up your prospect with incentives before explaining your solution’s benefits. But honestly, many salespeople lead with “I have the lowest price – I’ll give you a good deal’. Yet, no matter how hard you try, no one will buy something or how cheap it is if they suspect it won’t work. Doing so would be a waste of their money.

Be in-direct

Communication is vital when asking for a sale. That’s because it is the foundation of rapport and understanding. If you can’t directly ask your prospect what you want, they won’t be able to reply how you want them to.

As such, you should never retreat to using vague language. Your prospect will probably become confused, and their patience will wear thin. Again, this will potentially cost you the sale you could have made had you said, “Would you like to sign?”

Wait for the prospects to ask first

Unfortunately, you can’t just explain to your prospect how your solution solves their problem; stand back and wait for them to ask where they can sign. By waiting for your prospect to start asking how you can move along, you’re wasting valuable time that you could be using to expand their knowledge of your other products. In other words, it is your chance to upsell and cross-sell. You’ll also radiate a vibe that your solution is untrustable because you have no confidence in it- which could cost you the sale.

Not following up after the first try

One of the biggest mistakes salespeople make is failing to follow up after initial contact or a sales pitch. Many salespeople give up after one or two attempts, assuming a lack of interest.

However, studies show that it often takes multiple touchpoints before a prospect is ready to buy. By not following up, you’re leaving money on the table and potentially missing out on sales that could have closed with a bit more persistence.

Effective follow-ups keep you on your prospect’s radar without being pushy. They provide opportunities to address any lingering concerns, offer additional information, and gently nudge the prospect towards a decision. Timing is crucial in sales, and your follow-up might just coincide with the moment your prospect is ready to buy.

To avoid this mistake, create a systematic follow-up process. This could include scheduled check-ins, sharing relevant content, or providing updates about your product or service. The key is to add value with each interaction, not just to ask for the sale repeatedly.

Don’t forget to match your prospect’s energy

While these strategies provide a solid foundation for asking for the sale without being pushy, the most crucial skill is adapting your approach to each unique situation.

Every prospect is different, and every conversation takes its own path. The key to success lies in your ability to remain flexible and responsive.

Pay close attention to your potential customer’s communication style, body language, and reactions throughout your interactions. Are they more analytical and data-driven, or do they respond better to emotional appeals and storytelling? Do they prefer a direct approach, or do they need more time to build trust? Use these cues to adjust your tactics in real-time.

The goal isn’t just to make a sale—it’s to build a lasting relationship with your customer. By tailoring your approach and staying attuned to your prospect’s needs and preferences, you’ll not only increase your chances of closing the deal but also lay the groundwork for future business and referrals.

Ultimately, asking for the sale without being pushy comes down to finding the right balance between confidence in your offering and respect for your prospect’s decision-making process. With practice and a willingness to adapt, you’ll develop the instincts to know when and how to ask for the sale in a way that feels natural and beneficial for both you and your customer.

Putting it all together: A Roleplay Example

To help illustrate these principles in action, let’s look at a roleplay conversation between a sales representative (Sarah) and a potential client (Jake). Sarah works for a company that provides project management software, and Jake is the operations manager of a mid-sized construction firm.

Sales Rep	Client
Sarah: “Jake, we’ve discussed how our project management software can help streamline your team’s workflow and improve communication. Based on what you’ve shared about your current challenges, it seems like our solution could save your team several hours each week. How does that align with your goals for improving efficiency?”	Jake: “That sounds promising, Sarah. We definitely need to address our communication issues and reduce the time spent on administrative tasks.”
Sarah: “I’m glad to hear that. You mentioned earlier that you’re looking to implement a new system within the next quarter. With that timeline in mind, would you like to move forward with a 30-day free trial of our software?”	Jake: “A trial sounds good, but I’m not sure about the timing. We have a huge project starting next month.”
Sarah: “I understand your concern about timing, Jake. Many of our clients have found that implementing our system just before a huge project actually helps them manage it more effectively from the start. Plus, our team offers comprehensive onboarding support to ensure a smooth transition. How about we start the trial next week? That way, your team can get familiar with the software before the new project kicks off.”	Jake: “That’s a good point. But what about the cost? We need to be mindful of our budget.”
Sarah: “Of course, budget considerations are important. Based on the size of your team and the features you need, we can offer a package that fits within the budget range you mentioned earlier. And remember, our case studies show that most clients see a return on investment within the first six months because of increased productivity. Would you like me to prepare a detailed proposal with pricing options for you to review?”	Jake: “Yes, that would be helpful. Can you include information about the onboarding process too?”
Sarah: “Absolutely, Jake. I’ll have that sent over to you by tomorrow afternoon. Once you’ve had a chance to review it, shall we schedule a follow-up call next week to discuss any questions and potentially get your trial set up?”	Jake: “That sounds good. Thanks, Sarah.”
Sarah: “Great, I appreciate your time today, Jake. I’m looking forward to helping your team boost its productivity. I’ll send over that proposal and be in touch to schedule our next call. Have a great rest of your day!”

This roleplay demonstrates several key points:

1. Sarah listens to Jake’s needs and relates her solution back to his specific challenges.
2. She uses an assumptive close by suggesting the free trial.
3. When faced with an objection about timing, she addresses it with a benefit.
4. She handles the pricing objection by tying the cost to ROI and offering to prepare a detailed proposal.
5. Throughout the conversation, Sarah guides Jake towards the next steps without being pushy.
6. She sets up a clear follow-up plan, ensuring the sales process continues to move forward.

We hope that by studying this example, you can see how to naturally incorporate asking for the sale into your conversations while remaining responsive to the client’s needs and concerns.