Sales training and coaching · Objections and closing practice
Ask the buyer for a number out of ten and listen to the gap.
A one to ten scale close asks a hesitant buyer to rate how ready they are to go ahead, then asks why not lower and what would make it higher. The answers show benefits and hidden concerns. This page gives the script, the follow-ups and what to do with a low or evasive number.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A one to ten scale close asks a hesitant buyer to rate how ready they are to go ahead, then asks why not lower and what would make it higher. The answers show benefits and hidden concerns. This page gives the script, the follow-ups and what to do with a low or evasive number.
A rep at a Lucknow coaching institute's admissions desk has spent forty minutes with a parent. The parent says, 'Let me think and tell you.' The rep waits three days, calls twice, and learns the parent enrolled the child at the institute across the road.
The scale gives the parent a way to say where they stand without saying no. The rep asks: 'On a scale of one to ten, how ready are you to enrol, where ten is you would pay today?' Whatever the number, two questions follow: why not a lower number, and what would move it up? The first brings out what they like; the second brings out the concern.
The rep uses it on late-stage deals, and the sales manager reads the logged numbers in the monthly deal review. It replaces chasing with discounts and pushing for signatures. It belongs after the readiness checklist, so you use it only on deals that have real contact with the deciders.
If the number is honestly low, the right action may be to send the deal back to an earlier stage and say so in the pipeline.
Where this sits
Topic 4 of 8 in sales training and coaching: objections and closing practice. Rehearsing the end of the sale. Distinct from the sales-process objection and closing pages: these are practice drills.
- The topic before
- Qualifying conversations
- The topic after
- Team foundations
If you want this done for you
Deals stall at the last step because nobody was taught how to ask for the order.
The work
What this is actually like.
“A seven is a good answer”
Reps sometimes feel disappointed by anything below ten. A seven means the buyer sees a lot of value and has three points of doubt. Ask what those three points are. Buyers who say ten seldom need a closing technique; the interesting numbers sit in the middle.
“Some buyers avoid giving a low number”
Out of politeness, a buyer may say an eight when they mean a four. If the number sounds higher than the conversation felt, ask what the person who is not here would say. Moving the question to a third person lets the real concern out.
“Ask 'why not lower' before 'why not higher'”
The first question has the buyer list the reasons they are interested, in their own words. By the time you ask what would move them up, they have already argued your case. Reverse the order and it sounds like a cross-examination.
“The number should move”
Ask again after you have dealt with a concern. If the seven becomes an eight, you know the concern was real and you addressed it. If it stays at seven, the real reason has not come out and you should ask again differently.
What we do
What you end up with.
The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The scale script
The opening line, the two follow-up questions and a closing line for each range of answer: low, middle, high, evasive. In English and in the language you sell in, with the buyer's likely replies written beside each.
Result: Finished when a rep can say the opening and both follow-ups from memory in either language.
The concern list
A table with the concerns buyers actually raise after the scale question, in their words, and the answer your team gives. Add new concerns weekly. Over a couple of months this becomes your real objection list.
Result: Finished when the top five concerns each have an agreed answer a new hire can learn.
The deal log entry
For each late-stage deal: first number, why not lower, what would move it, number after the discussion, and the next step. Entered in the CRM the same day.
Result: Finished when a manager can read the log and see which deals moved and which did not.
The send-back rule
A written rule for when a number and the answers mean the deal goes back to an earlier stage: a low number, no way to raise it, and a decider not yet met. The rep updates the stage and the forecast.
Result: Finished when at least one deal this month has been moved back with the reason written down.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Will buyers think the scale is a gimmick?
What if the buyer says ten?
Should we use it with family decision groups?
When is this the wrong tool?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this topic further.
The rest of objections and closing practice
Or read all of sales training and coaching.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.