Is Your Offer Ready for a Closer? 7 Things Good Reps Check Before They Say Yes

Good closers usually have a few offers to choose from, so they ask a lot of questions before they say yes. Many of them have joined offers where the leads dried up or commissions came late, so they check for that early.

These are the seven things experienced reps ask about most. They're also what I ask business owners about on our first call.

1. Are there enough leads?

Closers work in different ways. Some take calls a setter booked. Some call your opt-in leads, set the call themselves and close it. Some dial their own prospects or ask for referrals. Whichever kind you're hiring, they'll want to know where their conversations will come from each week.

Get ready: know how the rep will get their conversations, roughly how many a week, and where they come from.

2. What's the show rate?

If half your booked calls don't show up, a closer's income is cut roughly in half. Reps will ask about it.

Get ready: track your show rate. If people aren't showing up, text and call them the day before and again about an hour before the call. If you don't have time to do that, hire a setter to confirm your calls.

3. Has anyone closed this offer before?

Knowing the offer sells, whether you closed it yourself or a previous rep did, gives a new closer confidence. Most reps are careful about being the first person to sell something.

Get ready: have rough numbers on your close rate, and call recordings if you have them.

4. Is the pay clear?

Reps want to know the commission percentage, what counts as collected, how refunds are handled, and when they get paid. My commission guide covers what's typical.

Get ready: put it all on one page.

5. Do you pay on time?

A commission-only rep depends on getting paid when you said they would, so they'll ask how and when you pay.

Get ready: pick a payout schedule you can keep, and stick to it.

6. Does the product deliver?

A closer's income depends on customers who stay. When a customer refunds, the rep can lose that commission.

Get ready: be honest about your refund rate and what customers get.

7. Is there a sales process?

Good closers want a CRM, call recordings, a clear process and someone who gives them feedback.

Get ready: a basic CRM, a call outline and a weekly call review.

What if you're not ready yet?

That's normal, and it's better to find out now. If your lead flow is thin, a setter might be the better first hire. If the offer hasn't been sold on calls yet, closing it yourself for a while will show you what a rep will need.

If I talk to a business owner whose offer isn't ready for a closer yet, I tell them, and I point them to what to fix first. Placing a rep on an offer that can't support them doesn't help the business owner or the rep.