Page 30 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

will let you know when I need anything.” People really mean these
pleasantries when they say them to you, but they seldom bother to remember
them after a salesman is out of sight. You must learn, and learn quickly, too,
that a promised order pays no commissions, turns no factory wheels.

The ability to close sales without a long, drawn-out series of “call backs” is
the greatest asset a salesman can have. Without this ability you are just a
solicitor, not a salesman. There’s an old saying, “Anybody can solicit
business, but it takes a salesman to close orders.”

The first thing to remember in closing a sale is that most people need a little
pushing to bring them to a decision. The natural inclination of every prospect
is to put off buying as long as possible. Even a woman, a few days before
Easter, will want to put off buying a hat or a new outfit, until she has seen
what every store in town has to offer. Yet she wants that new hat or dress as
badly as she ever wanted anything. She’d be heartbroken if she knew she
couldn’t have it. But she wants to wait, wait, wait and see if she can’t find
something she likes a little better.

Keeping this human trait uppermost in your minds, as salesmen, you can
understand the necessity of persistence and pressure in helping people to
make up their minds. Take the case of a man buying a new automobile. He
may have decided to buy a Ford, a Chevrolet or a Plymouth. But which one?
All three cars are presented to him in the most favorable manner. He is a bit
confused. Each car has certain special features which appeal to him. The
salesman’s job is to bring him to the point of deciding. There are definite
methods of doing this. For example, one salesman may say: “Mr. Prospect, if
you will just check your preferences as to color, tires, and body style, I’ll put
your order through, so you can drive this car next Sunday.”

See how this salesman has simplified the prospect’s problem of making a
decision. See how much better this attempt at closing is, than: “Think it over
and let me know what kind of tires and wheels you want.” The washing
machine salesman may say, “Mrs. Jones, if you will sign this memorandum
you can have this machine in your basement by Monday, and finish your
washing long before noon, leaving you free from worry and work all Monday