Closing Deals with Confidence: Whitney's Top Strategies

Closing Deals with Confidence: Whitney's Top Strategies

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How does a sales pro turn hesitant leads into loyal clients?  Unlock the secrets to mastering sales calls with Whitney and Ashlie in episode 9 of the C-Suite Chicks podcast! In this engaging and insightful episode, Whitney Ramirez, and Ashlie Marshall delve into the intricacies of sales psychology, offering listeners a wealth of practical advice and strategies for closing deals with confidence.

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The episode kicks off with Whitney sharing her approach to handling challenging clients. She explains that encountering a client with a nasty attitude or aggressive questions can actually be beneficial. It allows her to identify problematic clients early on, ensuring that she only engages with those who are a good fit for her services. Whitney's confidence in managing difficult conversations is evident, and she emphasizes the importance of staying calm and composed, regardless of the client's demeanor.

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Ashlie then sets the stage by welcoming listeners and sharing her excitement for the episode. She highlights that Whitney is the primary person responsible for closing deals at their agency and print shop, securing major contracts that contribute to recurring revenue. This introduction sets the tone for a deep dive into Whitney's sales strategies and techniques.

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One of the key takeaways from the episode is Whitney's meticulous preparation for sales calls. She emphasizes the importance of using all available information, whether it's a referral, a website inquiry, or a social media connection. Whitney shares a real-life example of a referral from Maine, illustrating how she leverages her referral sources to build trust and rapport with potential clients. By starting with what she knows about the client, she tailors her approach to address their specific needs and concerns.

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Building trust and educating clients are central themes in Whitney's sales strategy. She believes in providing potential clients with comprehensive information about her services, ensuring they understand what they are investing in before making a commitment. This approach not only builds trust but also positions her as a knowledgeable and reliable partner. Whitney's ability to communicate complex information clearly and effectively is a testament to her sales prowess.

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Listening to clients and understanding their needs is another critical aspect of Whitney's approach. She notes that the questions clients ask can reveal a lot about their readiness for her services. By carefully listening and asking clarifying questions, Whitney ensures that both she and the client are on the same page. This mutual understanding is crucial for establishing a successful working relationship.

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Whitney's confidence shines through in her discussion of closing sales. She adopts an assumptive close strategy, where she speaks as though the client has already decided to move forward with her services. This approach helps to instill confidence in the client and minimizes any awkwardness associated with asking for the sale. Whitney also highlights the importance of scheduling follow-up calls and providing detailed proposals, further streamlining the closing process.

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The episode wraps up with Whitney and Ashlie discussing the challenges of dealing with decision-makers in larger organizations. They acknowledge that the sales process can be prolonged when multiple stakeholders are involved, but emphasize the importance of patience and persistence. Whitney's experience in navigating these complexities underscores her expertise and resilience in sales. Episode 9 of the C-Suite Chicks podcast is a must-listen for anyone looking to enhance their sales skills. 

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Whitney Ramirez (00:01):

Sometimes in a way that's helpful to me. If they come in with a nasty attitude or if they come in with an aggressive question or an insult, it's like, okay, that's helpful for me to know because you're not a client yet. And I have say in whether you get to be a client. And so if you want to start off that way, that's fine because I'm not losing anything.

Ashlie Marshall (00:34):

Hey y'all. How's it going?

Whitney Ramirez (00:36):

Happy Thursday. Happy

Ashlie Marshall (00:39):

Thursday. I know. I feel like it's like the first full Thursday of the summer. My gosh. And I'm feeling it. I don't dunno about y'all, but I'm feeling it. I love it. Not just the heat, but everything.

Whitney Ramirez (00:53):

Well, welcome to the podcast.

Ashlie Marshall (00:57):

Today is going to be fun for me anyway because I am going to ask Whitney a bunch of questions. Whitney is the main person who takes all of our sales calls and does all of our closing of deals for our agency. She does majority of the closing of deals for our print shop. She secures a lot of really big contracts for our print shop, which accounts to reoccurring revenue as opposed to just one big job and done. The agency's always reoccurring revenue. So today I want to pick her brain a little bit and walk through her psychology of sales and how she does it, because while her and I were both doing sales for a little bit, I quickly was like, I don't want to do this. And she

Whitney Ramirez (01:54):

Was like, I was like, I love this.

Ashlie Marshall (01:56):

Exactly. She was like, I'll do it with both hands raised in the air. So we're going to pick her brain a little bit and walk maybe through the uncomfortable parts of sales and how we can retrain our thought process to make it not uncomfortable and kind of walk through what Whitney does. So what I want to hear first is I really just want to hear what you do to prepare, where do you go? What do you do? What's your thought process behind preparing for a scheduled sales call?

Whitney Ramirez (02:29):

Yeah, so I always like to, I mean, obviously work with the information I have, whether it's a referral or a friend of a friend, or it's someone that reached out on the website or found us on social media or followed us on LinkedIn. I just use what I have and then I go from there. So for example, if I have a referral and it's someone in Maine and they're recommending their neighbor that's also in Maine, and I'm literally using an example that I just worked with last week. I use my referral sources for sure because our clients are amazing and they want to see us gain more business. So for example, I'll kind of just run through that one since it's a good real life example. But Barb, she sent me his information and she said, here's this guy. He doesn't know much but he wants to, and I told him you'd be perfect.

(03:30):

And I was like, okay. And so I get a feel for, he might be skeptical, he might be a little bit uneducated. And so that way I know the starting point is okay, I need to make this make sense for him and also work to gain his trust right out the gate. So with him, I use those two as a starting point, whereas sometimes I just look straightforward to their website, their social media, their Google listing and see what they're already doing. But with him I was like, I already knew those two things. And so I was like, that's kind of what I started with in terms of walking through the initial call with him. But of course I looked at what he's currently doing, which was nothing. So that's easy. So

(04:19):

Every call is different with him, it was more so in this first call, I'm going to build some trust with you, educate you on what we do, make sure that you know what we do to the point where you're not investing something you don't know what you're investing in. And then we'll set up another call because I wanted him to read through everything that we offer and get a feel for what our work looks like before he ever became a client. And I know that with some people, it's like they go into sales calls so nervous, but I think that's when I feel the most confident because they're not even a client yet. I am just there to give them information to see if they'd be a good fit. I want it to be a working healthy relationship and I can know based on what I do in those first couple calls and what questions I ask and how the conversation's going and does he understand what he's signing up for and is he going to benefit from this because if I see things heading south and they're not going to be a good fit.

Ashlie Marshall (05:32):

Right. Well, you said a few things in there that really stood out to me because almost every time we get on a sales call or I have in the past, and I'm sure you do, most of the time you hear this is the biggest question we get asked even after their clients is What are you doing for me? And we start that education from the jump, we start talking about it and trying to make sure that the education is so deep because the only way that it works once they're a client is if they understand the value without seeing the ROI. Because that's the biggest part of digital marketing at least been our experience, is understanding that there's value without attaching a dollar amount of ROI to it. Because sometimes that can be very difficult depending on what services you're providing. But you also talked about, you talked about education, you talked about knowing where he was at, meeting him, where he was at, he knew a little bit, he wants to know more. And we always love those types of clients that are really wanting to learn because then they're going to understand the value over time, which makes it easier.

Whitney Ramirez (06:49):

It's so cool going into a call and just feeling out, okay, who is this person and what are their goals? And it's just interesting seeing how different everyone is, but also being in the same space where it's like we're trying to grow a business too. And so it's really cool to see other people doing the same thing and just like we have vendors, they're reaching out to us as a vendor and just kind of seeing how the whole cycle works.

Ashlie Marshall (07:21):

Yeah. Well you kind of brought me to the next point was like, okay, making sure where he is at, meeting him where he is at and educating him. Those are the top two things. But then the next part is it's not only meeting him where he is at, but listening to him speak in the call. Because you can research people, you can go off of what Barb gave us information she gave us based on what she knew of him and conversations she's had with him. But from there, you really have to get to know him or the person you're selling to because you could sell them carrots all day long. But if they're not really interested in the carrots, they're interested in something, nutritional carrots might not be the best thing for them, and you're not going to know that unless you listen to them. So talk to me a little bit about what you find that teaches you about the person when you're talking to them.

Whitney Ramirez (08:17):

I definitely look for them to, I like to hear what questions they have. I feel like when people have no questions, that means that they're just looking for a day and night solution. Or if they have questions where it's like, how do I know that I'm going to make my money back from this or, well, what's the difference between hiring you and hiring someone that tells me almost that they're not ready for our services yet because they don't really understand what they need. So it's like you kind of take that information from them based on the questions they ask, and then the questions I ask them, and then I break that into little pieces and really try to dive in and get them to clarify a bit to make sure they know and that they're also ready. Because if they're not ready to sign on for services, it's just not fair to either party.

Ashlie Marshall (09:19):

Then our team does a whole onboarding process, which is actually pretty intricate from the word jump. And then a month later they're canceling when if we just would've had a little bit more detailed in depth conversation, which I feel like we've learned over time as a salesperson, your retention rate is very high, but that is because you enter into the conversation initially with these key things in mind based on our experience that we've been through.

Whitney Ramirez (09:53):

Well, it reminds me of a job interview in a way. And whenever I went to Tulsa Tech and I was doing those mock interviews with students, I was like, you have to remember that you're not only interviewing to be like, please give me a job. You need to interview that company. And so it's in a way, I feel like I'm interviewing the client just as much as they're interviewing me because sometimes I'll have a couple guys come in and they'll be like, just trying to grill me. And I was like, you're going to grill me, but I'm going to grill you right back because I want this to be a good fit. And sometimes those are our best clients and it's a great match. And then other times it's like, oh, okay, I didn't know that's what you did, but I'm looking for this and do you have any recommendations? And then they just start trusting what I'm saying based on the feedback I'm giving them too.

Ashlie Marshall (10:46):

So again, you kind of led me to my next topic that I wanted to talk to you about was the difficult conversations, right? Yeah. You've had a lot of really good conversations and you've had a couple of really difficult ones. I feel like

Whitney Ramirez (10:58):

We

Ashlie Marshall (10:58):

Both have and we handle them very differently. But talked, talk to me a little bit about when they do grill you. We know you love questions, we know you're able to handle questions. I think where I struggle and you thrive is when it's not the questions that they're asking, but it's how they're speaking to me, how they're speaking to you, how do you work through that

Whitney Ramirez (11:26):

In a way, when I noticed someone, I had a guy once that said, I don't even know why I'm on this call with you, and that's exactly how he said it. And I said, okay, yeah, I'm going to pull up this email right here, and this is why we're on the call. He was on the email, the agenda was listed and I was doing everything that I said I would do in that email that he was on, and he went from here to here real quick. But I really just try to use a very calm tone for the most part and just kind of bring them back down to my level because I refuse to go to where they are, not me, but also we're not going to get anywhere and we're going to waste both of our times. And sometimes in a way that's helpful to me if they come in with a nasty attitude or if they come in with an aggressive question or an insult, it's like, okay, that's helpful for me to know because you're not a client yet.

(12:41):

And I have say in whether you get to be a client. And so if you want to start off that way, that's fine because I'm not losing anything. But that's really how I think of it. That's why I feel so confident in sales calls because I know exactly what we can and can't do, and I know that we'll follow through with that and I know what clients would benefit from our services and who wouldn't. And so it's really just if you give me that upfront, it's helpful for me. I can cut the conversation short and maybe I can refer you to someone else that would either be a better option for you, or I can give you a timeline or tell you what you need to work on until you are ready for service. And so in a way, it's just kind of an extra help in figuring things out,

Ashlie Marshall (13:37):

Which is interesting because in all of the calls that I ever took and even calls that you take, and I know sometimes you like to send some calls to the team so they can kind of hear difficult situations more so than celebratory conversations. But for educational purposes, we always send that stuff to the team and being able to think and stay calm in challenging situations. We've had challenging client conversations even after their client clients that we didn't sell or bring on into the company, but clients that we nonetheless had, and being able to maneuver the difficult conversation while maintaining a calm collected head is very challenging. But I think the difference for the sales calls is that, like you said, they're not a client. I'm not losing anything by you treating me this way and me staying calm and trying to have a good conversation with you, I'm not losing anything.

(14:48):

And I think that's really key there is stepping into a sales call with the mindset of, I'm going to educate you on what we do. I'm going to listen to you to find out what you're looking for and even if it is our services that you're looking for. And then if you're rude to me, that's okay. I'm going to stay calm because it doesn't mean anything to me. I don't know. You don't know me. You have absolutely no base in terms of saying whether I'm good at my job or not. You have absolutely no base to say anything about our company because you really don't know anything except for what I've already told you.

(15:30):

So those are really big points that are really important to keep top of mind. But this kind of brings me to the sale, the actual closing of the sale, which that's the part of sales calls that I dislike the most. I've always disliked that I can have the conversation, I can have the challenging conversation, I can get grilled, I can do all those things. I'm fine with all of that. I can educate you, we can get to know each other. It's the closing of it. So walk us through what you learn about the person and how that changes your strategy to closing it.

Whitney Ramirez (16:09):

So it usually goes one of two ways. What I like to do is the first call is very much like, I'm going to gain your trust. I'm going to educate you. We're going to figure out if we be a good fit, and then I'm going to send you so much information that you, you'll have all your answers and whether you want to move forward or not. And then I'm going to schedule up second call to go over exactly what we think would be the best fit for you. And so I'm more so like, Hey, I'm going to send you what we offer, but after that first conversation, I already know what service I'm going to suggest for them. And so for that second call, I'm more so pushing them into, I really advise we start here and in this service level we do X, Y, Z, and here's how it would benefit you, and here's why I think this would be a good fit for you.

(17:02):

Do you agree? Could you see this being helpful for you? And then depending on if they have a marketing team or if they have anyone that's also going to be part of it, I always include them in, and if we do this, this person's going to still be responsible for X, Y, Z. They'll actually be so helpful for us in providing content and getting reviews and blah, blah, blah. And so I always talk about it as if they are going to sign up and I kind of just get the vision in their head in terms of what it's going to look like working with us, because by the second call, I know if they'll be a good client or not and a good fit for services. And so I'm really just working towards, Hey, this what I advise, here's what the service will look like.

(17:53):

I'm going to go ahead and update because the first proposal that I send is not going to have any services suggested. It's just going to be an overview. And then after the second meeting, I'll update the proposal with the services with the total, it's ready to sign at that point. And so I send that right after the second meeting. And so it's kind of just more of an assumptive close because I'm like, you trust me now and I'm advising you to do this and I'm telling you how it's going to work. And so if they have no other questions, then that's usually the close.

Ashlie Marshall (18:29):

Yeah. Yeah. It does sound so simple.

Whitney Ramirez (18:36):

Yeah,

Ashlie Marshall (18:38):

I know it does. I just struggle with that. So I'm sure if I'm struggling with it, there's countless other people that struggle with it too. So hearing how you explain it, setting up the follow-up call, how you discuss, okay, this is what I think is going to work for you guys, what do you think about that? Okay, great. Throwing all of the information at them. That way they can ask the questions and sometimes they do take a hot minute to sign that proposal. So let's kind of talk through that. Let's talk that a little bit because I feel like that is our only challenge in terms of, because our line of service is such an investment, it's an ongoing reoccurring investment that they have to ensure is going to help them. But the problem with digital marketing is that you're not going to know that it's helping you until you're at least six months in.

(19:39):

And that's a good minimum marker is you have to be ready to invest for that amount of time in order to see the benefits that come from that. So clients sometimes, or potential clients sometimes take months to sign proposals. And I'm curious if you have found something amidst to all of those that is like, this is a common denominator. I handled it this way, or I said these words, or they are this type of client or this type of person that has elongated that signing of the proposal. Are there any common denominators that you've landed on that seem to be the same?

Whitney Ramirez (20:24):

Yeah, and I think every person who does sales will know is it depends on who you're talking to and whether they're making the decision or not, because that will prolong it the most because you're not actually speaking to the person making the decision. And sometimes you will never get to it depends on how large the organization is and who's responsible for what. But I have a large proposal out right now, but the person who's making the decision is having to validate our services to the CF, and the CFO is not making the decision necessarily, but they are in charge of the budget and do we really need to spend this money or not validate it to me? And so that will definitely prolong it. And then I do notice when you are speaking to the owner of the company or if it's a smaller company too, and you're speaking to the person that is going to give you their credit card, that can move things so much faster. But you'll also notice that that is where smaller deals come from because they are smaller accounts, which is not bad at all. Everyone starts somewhere. But as you get into partnership deals and trying to get 12 month contract signed for a six figure invoice, it's definitely takes a lot longer to have the people who actually need to sign and make the decision to do that.

Ashlie Marshall (22:16):

Yeah, I would agree with you on the decision making, the decision maker, we do have close communication with a lot of decision makers, but that doesn't mean that they were privy to the proposal or the invoice or anything like that. We prefer to build relationships with the decision makers, but sometimes the way certain teams are structured or set up, that can become challenging to actually get in front of the decision makers. So then you're relying on the head of the sales department or the head of the marketing team to relay that information, which is why we give 'em as much information as we can.

Whitney Ramirez (22:59):

Definitely. I don't really see it as a bad thing though because then it's like I still look back into our company and it's like I have people making decisions for me constantly. And I love that. And I understand it on so many levels where it's like you need people making decisions for you. And yes, it's hard to commit to something that you're not actively involved in, but there just has to be a lot of trust and a positive culture in your organization to make sure that the decision makers you do have in place are good ones. And so that way you're not micromanaging every decision or every proposal signed, and you have to have good people that you can trust

Ashlie Marshall (23:47):

And the people that are making those decisions for you. Because you and I work in different realms of the company most of the time, creating those checks and balances where they can make the decision, they okay it with you or sometimes not all the time. And then they make sure that we have the funds available so they go through different processes that we have set up for them in order to make sure that they can make the decisions. Like you said, some of those decisions are big dollar decisions and they're not just a one time spend, they're a reoccurring big dollar decision. So it's incredibly important that potential clients have a good culture on the inside where they have people they trust in place, and that they have processes in place to protect their company and keep their company moving forward. That's super key. Okay, so education, get to know the person you're selling with. You have a very short window to do that, but the biggest thing that you have to do in order to do that is listen. And then closing is making sure you give them all the information needed and schedule the follow up call before you get off the initial call. That's key. I feel like that has been huge and monumental to your success in the last 12 months. You transitioned to doing that a while ago and it really has paid off for you in terms of getting deals closed

Whitney Ramirez (25:12):

And just eliminates too many too. No one wants an annoying like, oh, just floating this to the top of your inbox after you only had one call. I don't want to do that. It's true.

Ashlie Marshall (25:22):

It's true. That's excellent. What other tips and tricks before we wrap this up, what are the biggest key takeaways or tips and tricks you want to give our listener to the psychology of sales in terms of getting people to sign on?

Whitney Ramirez (25:38):

No, I would say confidence is the biggest thing. And kind of how I was explaining closing, where I am really big on assumptive closing. I think it's kind of shooting yourself in the foot in a way when you're like, oh, when do you think you'll sign this? Or Do you think you'll sign this? Or How soon would you start? I don't know. It's just a little awkward and

Ashlie Marshall (26:05):

It is awkward.

Whitney Ramirez (26:07):

I don't like when people ask, that's the part hate. So it's like I try to sell to people how I would want to be sold to. And so I think that's kind of the biggest takeaway is if it feels awkward, find what feels natural to you of course, and find what makes you feel confident when you're selling. And also remember that sales is more so people based. A good salesperson is only as good as how they are interacting with people. It's not how much they know about the software or it's not,

Ashlie Marshall (26:51):

Or the amount of bullshit that they can do at you in order to manipulate you into signing on the line. That is definitely not how we operate.

Whitney Ramirez (26:59):

It's just be a normal person and you just have to be confident in what you're selling. Be confident in yourself and sell how you'd want to be sold to in a way.

Ashlie Marshall (27:15):

Yep. The golden rule. Treat others how you want to be treated. I mean, that's huge. And it's kind of been a resounding theme in all the things that we've talked about on this podcast is treat people like people. We're human. They're human. Be kind. Well, you heard it here first from our lovely queen of sales, Whitney Ramirez. Thank you Whitney for giving us all that information. We're really interested in hearing y'all stories. You can hit us up on LinkedIn and tell us your sales stories. Tell us anything that you think went really well. Give us that story. Want to hear it. We love to get schooled. And if you have any challenging questions for Whitney, feel free to ask her. She'd love to help also. Yes, great scenarios. We love to learn. And also please do us a favor and leave us a review. Let us know what you think of our show and share it with a friend. Yeah.

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