CHAPTER XV
CLOSING THE DEAL
Don’t talk yourself out of a deal.
There are many men trying to sell merchandise who are almost salesmen. They seem to have about every qualification excepting the ability to close a sale.
“Brevity is the soul of wit.”
A man who was waiting impatiently outside the church for his family, asked the janitor if the pastor was not through with his sermon. “Yes,” said the janitor, “he is through, but he hasn’t stopped yet.”
Many a salesman queers a sale by not stopping when he is through—his tongue outlasts his brain. He has not tact enough to see that when he has convinced his prospect it is time to close the deal. Others again make the mistake of lingering after their object is accomplished, squandering their own and their prospect’s time to no purpose.
If there is anything a business man appreciates in a caller it is a regard for the value of his time. Every minute is precious with a busy man, and directness, conciseness of statement, saying a lot in a few words, always makes a favorable impression.
“When you get what you went after, quit,” said one big selling agent of a national concern. “Many a sale has been queered because the salesman ‘stuck ground’ after he had signed his man.”