CHAPTER 8Negotiating the Close

PHONE SALES CHALLENGE – Mandy, who sells corporate meeting services for an upscale resort in the mountains of western Colorado, had this question: “I lost a huge sale with a national account. My boss said that I oversold, missed the close signal, and blew the sale. How can you oversell?”

You will not have the customer “with you” at the close unless you have been “with” him or her during your entire call. As long as you are talking away, rattling off a list of benefits or awards your company has won, you are not guiding the sales conversation. You may, in fact, be delivering a solo performance to an audience that has already left the room! Unless you keep your customer involved by asking questions throughout the ...

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