63% percent of all salespeople don’t ask for commitment. Why? Because you have to ask for it — and asking for commitment in sales can be difficult.

At Action Selling® we call it gaining commitment. Depending on your Commitment Objective for any given call, that can mean a number of things — scheduling a proposal meeting with a group of decision-makers, for instance. When you get to Act 7, you’ve reached the heart of every salesperson’s primary mission — gaining the commitment you’ve spent the last 6 Acts working toward.

At this point in the sale, many salespeople present their product, quote a price and when the customer says something like, “I’ll think it over and get back to you,” they say “thank you” and never hear from them again. Because they didn’t ask.

What stops salespeople from asking the right commitment questions?

Every time you leave a call without gaining commitment, your chances of getting a commitment later drop by at least 50 percent. There are three main reasons why most salespeople don’t ask for commitment.

  • They didn’t plan to ask
  • They miss opportunities to ask
  • They don’t follow a procedure to ask

With Action Selling®, you begin every call with a Commitment Objective so you never have to worry about having a plan or procedure. 

When it comes to missed opportunities, it’s about paying attention. An opportunity is a buying signal you get from a customer just before or just after you quote a price. Comments like:

  • This looks good.
  • How much is it?
  • What are your terms?
  • What’s the next step?

Be alert for these buying signals. Whenever you hear one of these comments or questions — provided it comes just before or after you quote price — it’s time to ask for commitment. 

So… how do you ask for commitment in sales?

First things first, avoid pressure tactics. Never resort to pressuring, manipulating, trapping or tricking the customer into buying. Such tactics erode trust and momentum built during the sales process.

Instead, start by following these three key steps:

  • Summarize Benefits and Quote Price. Recap the product features that resonated with the client and provide pricing information.
  • Ask for Confirmation. Prompt the customer with a simple question like “How does that sound?” Positive responses indicate interest and serve as buying signals.
  • Request Commitment. Utilize the phrase “Would you like to go ahead with this?”

After posing the question, maintain silence to allow the customer to respond to your commitment question at their own pace. 

Stalls can occur at this point. They happen when the customer isn’t fully convinced but lacks specific objections. Instead of challenging a stall, provide additional information tailored to the customer’s needs and preferences, reinforce benefits and introduce new features to address lingering concerns.

If there are objections, treat them as an opportunity to clarify needs and issues rather than confrontations. Redirect back to earlier stages of the sales process to gather additional information and provide tailored solutions.

As long as you remain within the Action Selling® framework to navigate objections effectively, gaining commitment will be easy. And then there you’ll be, new sale in hand, ready to tackle the next one.

Interested in seeing how good your sales team is at asking commitment questions?

Try our FREE sales skills assessment to see where they excel during the selling process — and where they could use a little help.

With 90% of senior executives failing to reach strategic goals due to poor execution, the advantage of better techniques through strategic training is undeniable.

Stay tuned to learn more about the other Acts of selling — and see how they all fit together to create a training program that delivers long-lasting success for your entire team.