"Sales 101" cont'd...

To assume the sale or not isn't the real question. The real one is 'how well do you know your prospect?'. You see, any fool can go in, give a canned spiel, and then assume the sale...and get escorted to the door the majority of the time. It's not that simple, as others have stated.

The only way that 'assume the sale' works is if you've been paying attention and really communicating with your prospect. There comes a time in most sales presentations when assuming the sale becomes nothing more than following through with the next logical step...if you've done things right.

To break out 'assume the sale' from the entire sales process, does an injustice to folks who are just learning their trade and even old timers who want to update their skills.

You can compare the assume the sale part to a dinner party. You can welcome folks, get them seated, start the conversation ball (or keep it going), serve the food etc but, until someone picks up a glass or utensil to drink or eat, it's just a fancy setting...and nothing more. Same difference. At some point the pen is the logical next step. Just choose the best way to get there and assuming the sale loses importance in and of itself.

Sandi Bowman