Close the deal.  Don’t let it slip away.

Many times a business person or sales person will be at the critical stage of whether they can close the deal or if they walk away empty handed.

In closing the sale, you can’t throw everything out there.  You have to leave something for that one final push to get the customer to agree to do business.

A perfect example of this was the women’s final beach volleyball match for the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.  No question that Misty May – Treanor and Kerri Walsh are the best in the world.  But every time the Chinese would get ahead, they would bounce back, even the score and get a few points on them.  They didn’t panic.  They weren’t going to lose and they didn’t.  Two Olympic gold medals in beach volleyball.  It had never been done before.  And it may never be done again. They not only had the athletic ability but they also had the right mindset. 

The right mindset is more important than most business people realize.  Have you ever heard anyone say: I’m going to Las Vegas (or if you prefer, Atlantic City) this weekend to gamble and I am only taking a thousand dollars with me to lose.  They have no idea about winning.  They have no strategy.  They haven’t studied the odds and they are going to lose. 

It’s no different with the close.  Are you going to win for both you and the person you are doing business with?  Or do you let them get away at the end because you didn’t study, in advance, how to close the deal.  Then at the very last moment you had nothing left to convince them to do business with you. 

Even if you give a great sales presentation, the real sale comes in the close.  Closing starts from the time you say hello to the time you walk out with a signed agreement.  But don’t let the sale slip away because you weren’t skilled and prepared at the close.