If asking someone to buy makes you immediately worry that you’re being pushy, your definition of “closing the sale” probably needs to change. In this episode of The Real Truth About Business podcast, I’m breaking down sales closing techniques that help service-based entrepreneurs guide potential clients toward a decision without manipulation, pressure, or aggressive sales tactics. Closing isn’t about convincing someone to hand over their credit card. It’s about listening, understanding what they actually need, making the right recommendation, asking for the sale, and following up intentionally. After 9 years of experience, I’ve seen how often business owners generate plenty of leads but lose revenue growth because they never confidently move those leads through the final stages of their sales process. We’re talking about what to say on sales calls and in DMs, how to establish follow-up before the conversation ends, why proposals can hurt your conversion rate, and when to stop selling completely.

What You'll Learn:

• How to redefine closing as guiding someone toward a decision instead of convincing them to buy
• Why listening is one of the most effective sales closing techniques
• How to recommend the right offer based on what a potential client actually tells you
• What to say when someone tells you they need time to think about your offer
• How to establish follow-up expectations without feeling like you're nagging or chasing
• Why proposals, overselling, and continuing to pitch after someone says yes can hurt your sales process

Episode Highlights:

[00:00] Introduction: Why “closing the sale” feels so uncomfortable

[02:00] The aggressive sales tactic that inspired this episode

[04:00] Step one: Stop talking and start listening

[06:15] Step two: Make a recommendation based on what you heard

[08:30] Step three: Ask for the sale without burying the ask

[10:00] What to say when someone needs time to think

[12:30] Setting the expectation for follow-up before the conversation ends

[14:00] Why I'm not a huge fan of sending proposals

[15:30] Stop selling when the client says yes

[16:30] Why a no is still a successful sales decision

[17:15] Auditing your sales process and handling hesitation

[18:15] Wrap-up: Intentional sales don't require aggressive tactics

Key Takeaways:

Closing a Sale Is Not About Convincing Someone

The phrase “close the sale” has picked up a lot of baggage.

It can immediately sound aggressive, manipulative, or like you need some magical sales script that convinces someone to buy before they change their mind.

That's not how I define closing.

Closing a sale is simply guiding someone toward a decision.

That's it.

You can generate leads, have great conversations, build relationships, and create an incredible offer. But at some point, someone has to make the final decision to work with you.

Inside the Focused Visionary Framework, this is why Pipeline and Sales are two separate pillars. Getting people into your world matters. But your sales process has to intentionally move those people toward a decision.

Step One: Stop Talking and Start Listening

Closing starts with listening.

One of my favorite ways to start a sales conversation is simply:

“Brain dump me.”

Tell me what's going on. What are you struggling with? Where are you stuck? What's creating anxiety?

Give people permission to talk without trying to package everything into a polished explanation.

Most of the time, they'll tell you exactly what they're struggling with. Your job is to listen and ask clarifying questions.

If someone tells me they need more clients, I'm not immediately selling them a lead generation strategy. I want to know why they think they need more clients.

Are they at capacity?

Are their current leads not converting?

Is their pricing wrong?

What's actually happening?

Listen before you recommend anything.

Step Two: Make a Recommendation

Once you understand the problem, recommend the next best step.

You don't have to present every offer in your business.

In fact, don't.

Tell them which option you believe is the best fit based on what they just told you.

Use their own priorities to explain your recommendation:

“Based on everything you told me, here's what I recommend.”

Or:

“One of the things you said was really important to you was…”

You're showing them that you listened.

People want to feel seen and heard. When your recommendation clearly connects their needs to the right offer, the sales conversation becomes significantly more natural.

Step Three: Actually Ask for the Sale

Don't bury the ask.

Don't end a great sales conversation by saying, “I'll send you some information,” and leave everything completely open-ended.

Ask them how they're feeling.

“Based on what we talked about, how does this feel?”

“Does this feel like the right next step for you?”

“What are you thinking?”

Then stop talking.

You do not need to immediately fill the silence or start overselling yourself.

Their response gives you information. Maybe they have a question about timing. Maybe they've been burned by another coach. Maybe they're concerned about the investment.

Let them tell you what's actually creating hesitation.

When They Say “I Need to Think About It,” Do This

“I need to think about it” doesn't mean you immediately end the conversation and hope they eventually come back.

Respect their decision to think about it while establishing exactly what happens next.

You might say:

“Absolutely. Take a few days to think about it. I'm going to put a note on my calendar to follow up with you next Thursday. If I don't hear from you before then, I'll reach out Thursday. How does that sound?”

Now you've established the expectation.

When Thursday comes around, you aren't awkwardly chasing them. You're doing exactly what you told them you would do.

And then you need to actually follow up.

Integrity matters.

If you told someone you were going to follow up on Thursday, follow up on Thursday.

Stop Letting Proposals Do the Selling for You

I'm not a huge fan of sending proposals unless they're actually necessary.

Why?

Because proposals can disappear into someone's inbox. Or the person opens it, immediately scrolls to the price, and makes a decision without the context of the conversation you just had.

If you need to send a custom proposal, consider recording a video walking them through it.

Explain what's included and why you made those recommendations based on the conversation you had.

And before you send the proposal, establish when you'll follow up.

Don't send it into the abyss and hope for the best.

When They Say Yes, Stop Selling

This one sounds obvious, but people do it constantly.

The client says yes.

Then you keep talking.

You start explaining more features, adding bonuses, justifying the investment, and trying to convince someone who already told you they're ready.

Stop.

They said yes.

Move into your process.

Tell them what happens next. Send the payment link. Book the first call. Get them onboarded.

You no longer need to sell them.

A No Is Still a Decision

The goal of a sales conversation isn't to make every person buy.

The goal is to help someone make a decision.

And sometimes the decision is no.

If someone isn't a good fit and you're seeing red flags, let them go.

If they decide the offer isn't right for them right now, respect the decision.

You don't need to convince them otherwise.

Closing is about moving someone toward a yes or no, not forcing every conversation into a yes.

Audit Your Sales Process

I want you to look at your current sales process and ask yourself:

Where am I actually asking for the sale?

What happens after I make the recommendation?

What are my steps for moving someone toward a decision?

How am I handling follow-up?

And am I establishing that follow-up before the conversation ends?

These techniques work whether you're closing on Zoom, over the phone, through text, or inside your DMs. The format can change. The sales process doesn't have to.

Listen. Recommend. Ask. Establish the follow-up. Follow through.

And know when to stop selling. You don't need to become more aggressive at sales.

You need to become more intentional about helping people make a decision.

FREE WORKSHOP REGISTRATION - THEY FOUND YOU...NOW WHAT?

Resources Mentioned

• Get your FREE Ceo Income Plan
• Book a CEO Strategy Call
• Learn more about The Missing Piece Intensive
• Learn more about The Focused Visionary Accelerator
• Download the FREE Lead and Conversion Tracker
• Subscribe to the Sunday Morning Brew Newsletter

About the Host:

Michelle DeNio is a business strategist based in Sarasota, Florida, specializing in helping service-based entrepreneurs break through revenue plateaus using her Focused Visionary Framework. With over 300 podcast episodes and 9 years running her consulting business, she helps coaches, consultants, and service providers scale sustainably through strategic planning, pricing optimization, and sales process development.

Connect with Michelle

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5. Facebook

Let's talk about closing the sale, because even that phrase, I'm sure, made you like, it kind of gave you a visceral reaction, right?

Because closing the sale, right, in general has a very negative connotation.

Nobody really wants to think of themselves as a sales closer.

Well, most people, I don't want to say nobody, right.

It immediately feels pushy, aggressive, bro markety.

Like we're supposed to have some magical script that convinces someone to hand over their credit card before they change their mind, right?

But.

But that's not what really closing a sale is.

Closing a sale is literally simply guiding someone towards a decision.

That's it.

Like, and when you can think of it that way, it's really not that intimidating, right?

So, again, like, whether you like the terminology or not, we have to get comfortable with it, because closing sales is what keeps your doors open in your business.

You can generate all the leads in the world, and you can have the most incredible sales conversations, and you can have a million friends and you can have people that love what you freaking do, and you can have all those things, right?

But at some point, you have to get them to make a decision to take the final step, to work with you, because sales is what keeps you in business.

Otherwise, you have a very expensive hobby.

Okay?

So that's what we're going to talk about today is sales closing techniques that you can implement in your business that are going to help you close more sales, but without feeling pushy, without feeling manipulative, or without feeling like you all of a sudden have to be a bro marketer.

Okay?

I promise you, like, it's not that bad.

Okay?

You can do it.

I know that.

And I'm gonna.

I'm gonna guide you through it in this episode.

All right?

So let's dive in.

Okay.

First, I want to tell you a story again.

I was at that SBDC event in a breakout room with this guy that was talking about, like, sales and lead generation and putting it on automation and automating your sales and lead generation thing.

And I was like, oh, let me go see what he's got to say.

And I literally sat in that room and I sat there and I looked at my friend that was there, and I was like, this.

This is why people hate sales.

Every single thing that he was teaching, I was, like, getting this, like, visceral gut reaction.

I was like, oh, my God, ew.

Because, like, at one point, he was like, one of the best things that you can do is, like, follow your competitors on LinkedIn, and when they put up A sale post, watch and see who comments on it and then get, and then scrub that post.

He had all these automation tools.

He was like, scrub that post of every single person that commented and then them with a sale and get in their inbox before your competitor has a chance to close the sale.

And I was like, are you serious?

Like, this is literally the shit we freaking hate, okay?

So that's why I wanted to do this episode.

Because I was like, hell no.

No, no, no, no, no.

This is not how we do things.

This.

No.

All right?

So we can, we can do this while being human.

We can do this without being a total asshat and we can do this without being frickin slimy, all right?

And that's what we're going to do.

Because no, we don't do like he did, okay?

We didn't, we don't listen to anything he had to say.

So first and foremost, closing starts with simply listening, right?

It's one of the biggest things is, is that you have to stop talking and start listening.

And that's easy, right?

Because as soon as you stop talking, you're no longer selling, right?

You're just listening.

So give your permission, give yourself permission to stop freaking talking.

Let the client do the talking.

Because when you ask questions and you let them open up, one of my favorite things when I get on a sales call is always like, brain dump me.

Just, I don't want you to think about it.

I don't want you to feel like you got to tell me what it looks like polished.

I want you to just literally brain dump me with everything that is going on.

What's going on, what are you struggling with, what are you feeling stuck on, what's creating anxiety, right?

Like, and when, as soon as you give them permission to just spew, most of the time they are going to tell you exactly what they are struggling with.

And you in your mind are going to be able to figure out exactly how to help them because they're literally handing it to you on a silver platter.

Okay?

You may ask some clarifying questions, right?

You may need to ask a few clarifying questions just to kind of see exactly where they're at, figure out exactly how far into this decision making process they are, right?

But before you recommend a single thing, just freaking listen, right?

Understand their problem, understand what they actually want.

Because 90% of the time what they're coming to saying that they want or what they think they need is not really what they want, right?

It's, you know, somebody might come to you because they're saying, like, I want to make more money, right?

Like, this is just the typical, like, I need more clients, I need more money, right?

A lot of times people say that to me about, like, I need more clients.

And so I just simply will ask questions and be like, well, talk to me about what's happening.

What are you doing?

Why is it not converting what's going on?

Like, what makes you feel like you need more clients?

Are you at capacity?

Do you feel like you have time?

Right?

Like, just ask questions that get them telling you every single thing and then you then can go into it with a recommendation.

That's step two, right?

So step one, you start just by listening.

I just told you exactly what I say, Brain dump me.

And then once you, once they've done all that, right, you can ask a few other clarifying questions.

But usually the best thing you can do is recommend the bizarre, the next best step, right?

So you might say to them, okay, well listen, like here, I want to give you some options.

I'm not going to give you all the options because they're not all a good fit for you.

I'm going to tell you what I think is going to be the best fit based on everything that you just told me, okay?

So based on everything that you just said, here's what I'm going to tell you.

So if somebody comes to me and has a million, they're like feeling like they need more clients.

They don't feel like their pricing is set up correctly.

They need accountability.

They have questions.

I can tell, like, they're going to need some bigger explanation.

I am immediately going to say, like, literally, based on everything you just told me, like, I'm going to tell you right now, FVA light, I don't think it's going to be good enough for you, right?

Because FBA light, you really only have the two calls a month.

It does require you to kind of go through it on your own where when you upgrade or you go into the mastermind, you have access to me in WhatsApp, you have access to me weekly on the Q and A calls if you need them.

And in the beginning, I think that is really, really helpful.

Okay, so that's that.

Now if somebody says to me, like, I need one to one, I need handholding, I, I, I really want somebody to walk me through this.

I'm immediately going to again say like, you, here are your options, here are the recommendations.

You can start in the group program, but if you feel like you really need that one to one, I'm going to suggest that you start in the private because the private allows you to have direct access to me.

We have calls every month, right?

Like we can, we can dive deep.

Like in the beginning, this is what we do.

We meet weekly so that we really get into it.

We get you going.

So again like you're list to what they're saying and you're making a recommendation and you basically say based on everything you told me.

And again, even in those recommendations you can say like one of the things that you said that's important to you is okay.

And like I think that that's again giving it back to them because now they feel seen and heard, right?

Like most people when they are ready to buy or needing guidance to make a decision is that they need to feel seen and they need to feel heard.

Right?

So by you saying like, here's what I heard, here's what you said, here's something that, based on what all of what you just told me, right?

Like this makes them feel like you genuinely heard them, right?

Asking some questions, all right?

And then ask for the sale.

Step three, don't bury your ask.

Don't end it with I'll send you some information and leave it open ended.

Okay?

Ask them, how is this feeling?

That's something I usually say based on what I just told you or based on where I was at, like based on the options I just gave you.

Like, how is it feeling?

How are you feeling about it?

Okay, that's a lot of times, like again people then will tell you, well, one of the things that's coming up for me is I don't know when the calls are, I don't know if I can make it.

Another thing that's coming up for me is I don't know, I've been burned by a coach in the past and I'm just, I'm super hesitant to invest again because I'm not sure.

Right, Whatever.

Right?

Again, if you just by simply saying, like, here's what I'm thinking, here's what I'm recommending, how does this feel?

How is that feeling?

Does this feel like the right next step for you?

What are you thinking?

Right?

Like, and then stop talking.

You do not need to sit here and oversell yourself.

You do not need to try and convince them.

You do not need to do anything else.

You need to literally just again, let them freaking talk.

When they talk, they tell you exactly what they're thinking, okay?

And just let them tell you what's going on.

And if they say like, I need to think about it.

Okay, cool.

I get that I say that all the time because I am really trying hard not to make impulsive decisions.

So I say all the time I need to think about it.

Right.

But again, don't just immediately go, okay, no problem.

I'll talk to you soon.

You know where to find me.

Right?

This is one of the things that I think people is like, I need to think about it.

And you leave it open ended, right?

One of my key techniques.

And I literally gave my client this exact script the other day and she tried it and she got an.

And it freaking worked.

Okay?

So like my clients say, when I do what Michelle tells me to do, I make money.

So write this one down.

Flag it in your podcast.

Like flag it.

I don't even know.

Can't you like market, bookmark it and your pod, your podcast player or whatever.

But literally before you end the call and they say, like, I need to think about it.

Or when you ask them, how are they feeling about it?

And then they're going to tell you, right?

They're going to tell you all this.

You're going to listen.

Okay.

You're gonna say, okay, that sounds good.

Take a few days to think about it.

And here's what I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna put a note in my calendar to follow up with you by next Thursday.

If I don't hear from you before then, I'll follow up with you on Thursday.

How does that sound?

Or if they say I need, you know, I'm interviewing a couple other coaches and I, I have that going on until next week.

Okay, perfect.

So I totally respect that.

I think you absolutely should.

So here's what I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna send you a recap of everything I just told you as far as the options.

And I'm also going to put a note in my phone to or in my calendar to follow up with you on whatever day.

How does that feel?

Does that sound okay?

Right.

Or if I haven't heard from you, that's always one of mine.

If I haven't heard from you, I'll, I'm going to, I'll poke you, I'll send you a note.

Right.

Or something like that.

I always set the expectation of follow up on the call because following up is one of the biggest things that keeps people from closing a sales because they feel like a nag, they don't want to bother somebody.

But now you literally have gotten the permission and created the expectation that when you follow up, so your follow up now doesn't become something awkward.

It is, Hey, I told you I was going to reach back out to you on Thursday.

So it's Thursday and here I am.

Or just check.

You know, I'm trying to not use the word just, but I think checking in.

I know you said you were interviewing a couple of other coaches.

Did.

How did those interviews go?

Where are you at in your decision making process?

Do you need anything more from me?

Right.

Something like that.

Again, you set the expectation.

You already created the expectation of when you are going to follow up.

So now your follow up's not awkward.

Now it's your job.

Right.

Because now they are expecting it.

They are expecting you to follow up with them because you told them that you would.

So put the freaking thing on your calendar and make sure you follow through on what you said you were going to do.

Because integrity matters.

Integrity matters.

If you told them you were going to do something, do it.

Okay.

There's a couple other techniques that I would just say that I. I've done episodes on them before, but one of the other ones is proposals.

I'm not a huge fan of sending proposals because I think people just immediately scroll down, they look at Price and that's it.

All right.

So again, if you haven't had an opportunity to explain everything or maybe it's a custom proposal, I would do one of two things.

One, I would record a video of you explaining the proposal right before just sending it to them.

I've done this before where I don't actually send the proposal.

I just pull it up on my screen and I do a video walkthrough of like every single thing that's in the proposal and why.

So that I can then again relate it back to our conversation so they're not just reading something without having any context.

I also, even if I say I'll send you a proposal is set the expectation for a follow up.

Because proposals are like one of the things that I feel like just land in the world of abyss.

And they are like, yeah, send me a proposal and then that means I'm never going to respond to you again.

All right?

So I personally don't send proposals unless I absolutely freaking have to.

I am much.

I'd much rather just say, let's talk about your options.

Here's the recommendation.

I'll send you a link to it to read more information, something like that.

Obviously, there's always customization.

Again, there's all of those things, but that is one that I'm not a huge fan of.

Okay.

And I Have seen where, again, people stop sending proposals and their conversion rate increases.

They close the sales easier because again, you're not relying on them to just make a decision off of a sheet of paper.

You're having a conversation with them.

You're creating the relationship, you're building, all of that.

And that is what people need.

Okay?

You've got this built in accountability.

A proposal is just like, yeah, I'll let it sit my inbox for freaking ever.

Okay?

And then the last thing I will say is, I, like, literally know when to stop selling, right?

Do not outsell yourself.

If they say, yes, this sounds good, great.

Stop talking.

You do not need to add in bonuses.

You do not need to try to, at this point, try to convince them and be like, oh, this is amazing.

Okay, here's what I'm.

And just start spewing on them, right?

Okay, they said, yes, stop selling.

You no longer need to sell yourself.

But we feel like we need to because it's like they haven't paid yet.

They haven't done this.

Okay, here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to send.

No, they said yes.

Follow your process.

Okay, great.

Here's the next steps.

I'm going to send you the link.

So, like, for fba, it's very easy.

Here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to send you a link.

You're going to pick the option that we talked about, Whatever one you feel works best.

They're all on this one sheet, on this one sales page.

So you're going to select the option and then it's going to send you a welcome email that gets you immediately logged in.

If we are doing the private option, let's get a call booked on the calendar right now, right?

Like, we book the call so that we've got it set up.

We have the conversation around what makes the most sense, right?

Stop selling.

We just move on.

And if they're literally genuinely not a good fit, if you have a sales conversation and your red flags go up and you're like, they're not a good fit, let them go.

Seriously, just let them go.

Okay?

The goal is not to get every single person to buy.

The goal is to help them make a decision.

And a no is a decision.

If it is a no, it's a no for a reason.

It doesn't mean you close the door.

It means that is their decision right now.

Okay?

We just talked about in the last episode about choices.

That's their choice.

Okay?

It's your job to either decide then that you close the door, you keep the door open for them.

I'm always a fan of keeping the door open.

Okay?

But closing is not about convincing.

You've got to get out of this convincing energy.

Closing is about guiding someone towards a decision.

Period, point blank.

Done.

End of story.

You want to move them to a decision?

Yes or no?

Okay, so here's your action steps.

If you want to start closing more sales, I want you to look at your current sales process.

Now, this also goes.

I need to preface this.

All of what I just said applies whether you're closing on a sales call or in a dm.

I know a lot of people are closing in the DMS right now.

They're doing everything through voice memos, et cetera.

The same holds true.

Brain dump me.

Tell me what's going on.

Make a recommendation.

Set the expectation for the follow up.

Right?

It all still applies whether you're having the conversation via text or whether you're having the conversation on zoom.

Okay, so look at your current sales process.

Identify when you're actually asking for the sale, right?

How are you asking for the sale and what are the steps to close it?

Right?

Once you ask for the sale, what are your steps to actually getting that to a decision?

All right?

How are you handling your follow up?

How are you going to establish follow up before ending every single conversation?

Okay.

Integrity matters.

Follow up when you say you will.

I guarantee there is somebody listening to this episode right now that told somebody they would follow up with them and you haven't.

So after you get done listening to this, I want you to go follow up with that person.

Because again, integrity matters.

You said you were going to follow up, so go freaking do it.

Okay?

And then just kind of manage and start listening and paying attention to what creates hesitation for people.

Because when you start to see patterns, most people all have patterns.

Like, the hesitations are all the same.

It's time, it's money.

I don't know if I'm ready for this.

You know, is this the right decision?

The decision in general?

We all have the same hesitations.

So really start to think about how you are handling those hesitations.

Are you handling them by saying, okay, great, let me know when you figure it out?

Or are you handling it by saying, tell me a little bit more, let's talk about it, Right?

Or again, how are you handling that?

This is not about becoming aggressive.

This is not about freaking being a bro marketer and watching what your competitors are doing and then stealing their fricking clients and Then sliding into the.

Holy shit.

I was like, oh, my God.

Literally, this is why people hate sales.

I sat in on two sales presentations that were both hosted.

No offense, men listening, but they were both hosted by men.

And I was like, no, this is.

This oftentimes doesn't work for women, right?

Like, this is just.

And we don't have.

And it doesn't have to.

Like, it can work for them, but it doesn't have to.

It doesn't have to be like that for us, okay?

This is not about becoming aggressive at sales.

And honestly, when you start thinking about it in these steps that I just gave you, it's such a natural conversation.

It.

It's just fun.

Like, closing sales then becomes so freaking easy.

Not.

I don't want to say easy in the sense of, like, they just start falling in your lap, but the process.

Like, there's no.

There's no overthinking, right?

Because the process is just the process.

And it just becomes habitual.

It becomes routine, and you just do the thing, and it just makes it that much easier.

Okay?

So you don't need to become aggressive at sales, but you do need to become more intentional.

Intentional about helping people make a decision.

Yes or no?

Both of them are decisions.

Okay?

So go practice this.

Go follow up with the person you told them you'd follow up with that you haven't.

And try this next time.

And then I want you to DM me when you set that expectation for the follow up and the person says, yes, please do.

I want you to DM me and tell me all about it, okay?

Because I promise you, it works.

It works.

I would.

I'm gonna have to start measuring it, but I would say it works 95 of the time.

That's pretty good.

That's a pretty good percentage.

So go try it.

All right.

I love you.

I believe in you, and I will talk to you soon.