Looking to increase revenue before year-end? There’s an easier way: closing those deals that are already in your sales pipeline. Maybe you’ve had some good discussions with customers but for some reason, they just haven’t signed. Here are five ways to change that by changing the conversation.

1. Find Out Why Your Customer Is Dragging Their Feet.
It may be as simple as your customer hates to read contracts. Sometimes it’s a little more complicated – maybe you’ve been talking to the wrong person. Ask the question: “I know that we’ve been talking about this for a few weeks (or months). I can tell there is something holding you back. Could you share that with me?”

2. Fix That Problem.
For those who hate to read contracts, we schedule a conference call where we talk through each section of our contract. It takes all of 30 minutes to hit the highlights and answer questions – and then we can start work. Ask who needs to approve the project or who else will be on the team, and if you can get a meeting with him or her. Bring the contract with you.

3. Quantify The Importance Or Urgency.
There is a cost to your customer of not buying your services. Quantify the cost of waiting to show your customer why she should buy today.

For example, after analyzing a new client’s marketing budget, we often find that at least half of the funds invested in marketing aren’t working. We’ll recommend cutting those marketing tactics completely and dropping those funds to the bottom line, as pure profit. The money saved goes directly into the business owner’s pocket. The question we often hear after that: “Why didn’t we hire you last year?” Sharing an example like this is an effective way to show a potential client the benefit of signing now.

4. Show Your Enthusiasm.
If you’d love to work with the customer, explain why. If your team is excited about helping with the launch of several new stores, say that. We all want to work with people who want to work on our business. The best sales question I was asked this week: “What is it that you love about your business?” She already closed that deal!

5. Follow Up.
Yes, following up is tedious. It’s also absolutely necessary. The short reason why: 80% of sales require five follow-ups.

Speeding up the sales cycle is one of the easiest ways to increase revenue by the end of the year. Enjoy the extra cash!