How To Close a Sale: Proven Strategies From Sales Pros

If you don’t know how to close a sale, you aren’t going to make it long in your business.

After all, the sales process only exists to turn leads into closed deals. Otherwise, it’s a waste of time for everyone—the company, the sales rep, and the lost leads. 

There are strategies and philosophies that make it much easier to close the deal. I’ve developed a few myself, after five years running my own freelance business and fifteen years working in marketing and sales. 

I’ve put together some of the most effective strategies I’ve used, along with a few tips and tricks from other sales pros, so the next time you have a lead on the line, you’ll know how to close. 

1. Know your typical lead lifecycle

To successfully close a sale, you have to understand what your unique customer lifecycle looks like. 

I learned this lesson myself when I was selling a training course for freelancers, and was growing anxious that it wasn’t selling as quickly as I’d hoped. 

Then, a career mentor of mine reminded me that my desired sales timeline probably didn’t align with the natural sales lifecycle of my client. 

He helped me figure out a way to use previous sales to uncover my client lifecycle. 

I looked through my email marketing tool to find out when they’d first signed up for my newsletter, then marked the day they made their first purchase. Then I put all these together and came up with an average. 

Much to my surprise, the average time it took a lead to convert was over 3 months 

This vital information transformed the way I thought about my leads. It convinced me of two things: 

• I didn’t need to get anxious if students were only in my course for a few weeks or a couple of months—they may still buy.
• My pipeline was full of people who were in their second or third month reading my newsletter, meaning I had more potential leads than I thought.

These realizations changed my approach to sales, giving me the data I needed to adjust my sales strategy based on my client’s natural timeline. 

If you haven’t tried this exercise before, it’s bound to reveal something about your audience, and even uncover areas where you can speed things up with the right strategy.

2. Invest in trust and credibility

“How you meet prospects is everything,” says John Ruhlin, a Cutco partner and cofounder of Giftology, who I interviewed for this article. “With a trusted introduction, you’re already halfway there.” 

Getting customers to trust you is key, but it’s a lot easier said than done. Today’s customers are well-versed in scammy, disingenuous sales tactics. If they suspect for even a second that you’re misleading them, they will turn away and drop the sale. 

We asked Stacie Barton, a sales professional based in Philadelphia, about how she creates trust with her sales prospects. 

I approach my sales like collaborative discussion, not just me telling you what to do,” she says. “For example, I’ll showcase a range of products I offer, and ask them questions about what they think and prefer. I will engage them in conversation, and listen when they tell me what they do and don’t want. I won’t push them, but instead let them guide me toward their favorite products. This still gives me control of where the conversation is going, but also shows them I’m on their side and want to understand them better.

All sales are an exchange between parties. As Barton says, you want to maintain some control in the sales conversation, but not grip it so tightly that you break the trust and fail to close the deal.

3. Use poise and space to overcome objections

Objections are a natural part of the sales process. 

It can be easy to get frustrated when a prospect you’re talking to starts listing the reasons they don’t want to buy. 

But pros who know how to close a sale won’t see objections as a roadblock, but rather an opportunity. Anastasia Esquivel, a Cutco Sales Professional, explains:

When I hear an objection, I see it as a signal that I need to do something to make the customer feel at ease. Instead of trying to counter their objections right away, I’ll pause, and write down their objections so they know I’m listening. Then I’ll move on from that discussion for a while, and build more rapport. I’ll start asking questions to understand their objections better. I may even step away to give them some breathing room so they don’t feel pressured. By taking my time like this, I find that when we get back to the subject of the objections, they’re ready to talk them through.

You can also learn from objections over time. If you lose sales targets routinely for the same issue, it’s time to enhance your product, change up your pitch, or create some content that directly addresses that objection up front. 

You can see examples of this sales strategy in action on virtually any subscription-based software on the market. These companies know that some of their customers might object to higher prices, while others will object to being locked into a long-term contract. 

To overcome this, they offer multiple subscription models: some that are more pricy but allow for more flexibility, and others that have longer terms at a better rate. 

To use my own business as an example, I often found that leads who were interested in my SEO services would start to go cold when they found out it sometimes took months to see significant results. 

To counter these objections, I created a blog that explains exactly why it takes so long to see results, highlighting the actions we could take together to speed things up. 

Now, whenever a lead asks me, “How long until we see results?” I have a go-to piece of content I can use to soothe their anxiety.

4. Urgency can close the deal, but only when it’s genuine

Creating a genuine sense of urgency can be a powerful tool in closing sales. When done right, it conveys to your clients that they have a limited window to take advantage of an opportunity. 

“If you’re going to create a sense of urgency, it’s got to be authentic,” Ruhlin says. “If clients feel like the urgency is forced or manipulative, it can destroy trust and make them feel misled.”

If you work for a company, then a sense of urgency may be built in. You might have products that are truly only available for a limited time, or the company may refuse to honor special sales after a certain date. 

Otherwise, you can create a sense of urgency by determining your product’s genuine limitations. 

For example, if you’re selling a class, don’t just tell potential leads that seats are limited. Explain that you want to maintain a small class size to ensure each student gets adequate attention and support. This creates a real reason for prospects to sign up sooner rather than later, and they’ll appreciate that their decision to act quickly will result in a better learning experience.

Another example might be a special pricing offer that’s available for a limited time because you’re launching a new product and want to build an initial customer base. Here, the urgency is based on a strategic business decision that benefits both you and the client, underscoring why acting now is beneficial.

The key is to be transparent about why the urgency exists. If clients understand the genuine reasons behind the limited-time nature of your offer, they are more likely to feel that their decision to act quickly is a smart and informed one, rather than feeling pushed or misled.

5. Follow up quickly and offer flexibility

It might seem like a salesperson’s job ends when the pitch is over, but really, it’s only just beginning. 

The methods you use to follow up with sales leads will have an enormous impact on your ability to close a sale. 

“Follow up quickly!” advises Esquivel. “They’re far more likely to remember you in the hours or days after the initial conversation. Go too long, and they won’t be as interested in future conversations.” 

Timeliness is important, but you should also give your prospect plenty of options when it comes to reconnecting. Ask them when a good time to reconnect would be, and what method they prefer (“Should I email or text you?”) 

If you’ve reached out and find the lead has lost some interest, don’t lose hope. The next time you contact them, consider how you can give the conversation a new spin to revive their engagement—a unique perspective, an additional benefit, or a more appealing deal. 

For instance, let’s say that during the initial sales conversation, while you were building rapport, you remember the prospect mentioning their school-aged kids. The next time you write an email checking in, you might introduce a new family plan benefit. 

Or maybe you come across a video on social media that reminds you of something you discussed with the lead. Use that as an opportunity to share something of value with them and rekindle the conversation. 

Closing a sale is about connecting with your clients and understanding their needs. Building trust, handling objections with care, creating authentic urgency, and providing flexible follow-ups can turn interest into commitment. These strategies foster long-term relationships and transform leads into loyal customers, making your sales process both effective and fulfilling.