To many observers, seeing the word “values” and the phrase “closing sales” in the same sentence appears to be an oxymoron. For years, the common assumption about salespeople, simply put, was that they will do ‘whatever it takes’ in order to close business. This juxtaposition of ‘doing what is right’ versus being successful at sales is one of the core reasons why the sales profession continues to be misunderstood, not only by the public but also by business owners and sales professionals themselves.

In reality, the decision to buy is entirely in the hands of one person — the prospect, not the sales person. Sales professionals cannot “make” a prospect buy a product or service. What they do have control over is the sales process. Granted, what many have done in the past is to pressure prospects with various techniques such as “must-buy-now” claims or “this offer will end soon” pitches. Sure, these techniques may work in one out of a hundred sales interactions, but today every customer has encountered these high-pressure sales tactics so many times that chances are, they’ll just dismiss those using them outright.

After all, these tired closing ‘techniques’ are about as transparent as having a chain retailer’s floor person try selling you an extended warranty or the clothing store cashier asking for your email address: You’ve seen these things so many times that you just say a quick “no”, or outright ignore them.

So, let’s be clear: Throwing last-second tactics and tricks at a prospect is not the same as ‘closing the sale’. At best, it’s a ‘wishful thinking’ and at worse, it will alienate the prospect and send them to your competition with lightning speed.

What, then, is closing a sale and what do values have to do with it?

Closing a sale means ensuring that you and the prospect maintain a clearly defined and agreed-upon process for reaching a timely and logical selection based upon well-understood criteria — and following through to support that prospect as they answer final questions, review their options and, ultimately, make a decision. Good closing is all about the process, and the process starts back at the beginning, from the time you receive or uncover a lead all the way through until the prospect makes her or his decision.

How can values-based selling have an impact that results in better closing skills and higher sales results? The key is in understanding values alignment.

You see, prospects bring certain values with them into the sales cycle. The more effectively you uncover, discuss and appreciate those values, the more reliably you will be able to manage the sales cycle.

Let’s take a typical example. Suppose you are a field sales representative for a roofing contractor that works primarily with homeowners. One day, you are sent out on a sales call to meet with a family considering a new roof for their home. You arrive at the home and meet with a husband and wife, the homeowners. In a typical sales call, you might focus on just the basics — learning about their current roof; the size of their home; their budget (or at least, what they tell you about their budget), and so forth. Then, you give them the pitch about why your company does better roofing with higher-end materials faster than the competition, hand them an estimate and go on your way.

Stop! Rewind. And Rethink.

What questions could you have asked them that might have elicited meaningful information about their values?

First, you could have asked about their plans for the home — and you might have found out that the wife is planning to have her widowed father come live with the family in the next year. So they plan to have the house for a long time to come.

Second, you could have inquired about how they maintain other aspects of their property — and you could have uncovered the fact that the husband travels a great deal for work and the wife is often home alone with the children and so he is concerned about ensuring that she can easily take care of any needs the house has without concerns about safety (i.e. climbing up on the roof) or knowing who to call.

Third, you could have taken a tour of the home and talked about the stone fireplace in the living room — and learned that the family has recently decided to begin using it again, so for them it will be important to ensure that the home is safe with a live fireplace.

So, what values did you learn about from these discussions? Well, you learned that the family values the home as a long-term asset, and not as something to quickly flip. You also learned that ease-of-maintenance and rapid response to any needs is a paramount concern. And, you discovered that the roof needs to meet certain additional requirements for future intended uses as well.

Now, you have a solid sense of this prospect’s values — their values for their home, for their loved ones and for their lives. And you can tailor your discussion, and your proposal, to meet and align with those values.

In so doing, you present yourself as not only a more professional and competent sales person, but also as a more caring and engaged individual — i.e. someone who shares their values.

Being in tune with your prospect’s values makes you a better sales professional because it drives you to align more closely with them. Values alignment is an essential skill for sales professionals in an age where prospects hold all of the cards, know all of the information and make highly complex decisions all while operating from a position of skepticism when it comes to how you as a sales professional can help them.

By aligning your values with those of your prospect, you create a completely different experience — one that will increase prospect engagement, customer loyalty and, ultimately, your sales results.