Pressure Buyers to Close? How Much To Push for the Close

How Much Should a Sales Team Pressure Buyers to Close?
Closing is a big part of sales, and it is not easy. Recent research by HubSpot found that close rates by industry average between 19% and 22%.  With only 1-in-5 opportunities closing, how much should a sales team pressure buyers to close?

Does End-of-Month Sales Pressure Really Work?
Watch what happens as the calendar flips toward month-end. Forecast calls intensify. Discount approvals accelerate. “What will it take to get this done by Friday?” becomes a familiar refrain.

Many sales leaders still rely on end-of-month pressure to push deals across the finish line. The logic seems sound — quotas are monthly or quarterly, so urgency should peak accordingly. And there is evidence that activity spikes. Research highlighted by Harvard Business Review found that salespeople close three times as many deals at the end of the month compared to other periods.

But that headline hides a more sobering reality.  The same data shows that sellers also:

• Lose 11 times as many deals at month-end.
• Reduce average deal size by 34.5%.

In other words, volume increases — but so does collateral damage. Margin erodes. Win rates become volatile. Buyers learn to wait.

This is not a productivity strategy. It is a timing distortion.

Take our Sales Quiz
When you’re trying to close the deal, and the buyer says, “I need time to think about it,” should your sales team:

1. Try to get the buyer to make a decision then and there.
2. Give the buyer as much time as they need to make a decision.
3. Call the buyer back in a day or two to remind them of your unique value proposition.

What the Sales Research Says
According to research, when it comes to sales negotiation, Option #2: “Give the buyer as much time as they need to make a decision” is the most effective approach.

Why?

A recent study* found that when people are forced to make a decision immediately, they’re more likely to stick with the status quo. But when people have time to think it over, the odds shift in favor of change. Buyers think of all the problems with their current situation, making you more likely to win the sale.

This is contrary to sales rep assessment simulation participants do.

The Pitfall
When buyers ask for more time, we know from solution selling training that the tendency of most sellers is to immediately fear they are going to lose a sale on which they may have invested a lot of time. And that tendency is borne out by experience — oftentimes buyers who say they need to sleep on it, or think about it, or run it past someone are in fact getting cold feet and just don’t want to admit it. But the research hammers home the point that if you try to hustle buyers up at this stage, you’re reducing your chances of success.

Action Steps Regarding How Much Should a Sales Team Pressure Buyers to Close

Our sales microlearning library recommends two business sales training tips:

1. Build a Strong Sales Pipeline
   Make sure your sales pipeline is substantial enough that you can afford to wait a few days for any one prospect to make up their mind.  If you feel too much pressure, your prospect will as well.

2. Ruthlessly Qualify Sales Opportunities
   Ideal target clients do not need to be pressured.  Beef up your qualifying techniques so that you weed out as many nonbuyers as possible before you reach the decision phase.  This allows you to help clients to succeed versus pushing your product or solution.

The Bottom Line
We know from sales leader simulation data that too many sales people feel pressured to pressure their buyers.  We also know that buyers do not respond well to feeling pressured, manipulated, or “sold to.”  Focus on helping your ideal target clients to succeed at a pace that works best for them.  Establish value early in the qualification process and mirror their buying process if you want to increase your odds to close the deal.

To learn more about how to effectively close more deals, download The 2 Most Common Sales Negotiation Tactics to Prepare For

by Tristam Brown: CEO

Tristam Brown is an executive business consultant and organizational development expert with more than three decades of experience helping organizations accelerate performance, build high-impact teams, and turn strategy into execution. As CEO of LSA Global, he works with leaders to get and stay aligned™ through research-backed strategy, culture, and talent solutions that produce measurable, business-critical results. See full bio.