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.”

“I knew a salesman who put over a big deal one afternoon. Then he lighted a cigar and sat talking with the man to whom he had sold. Presently the telephone rang. It was a long-distance call from the buyer’s financial headquarters. Evidently the president of the concern was advising his representative to economize, to cut expenses everywhere he could, to lay off men, and to buy only necessities.

“I’m glad you didn’t go,” said the buyer to the salesman, after he had hung up the receiver; “I find my appropriation has been decreased and I won’t be able to take those goods now. This saves my writing you to cancel the order.”

“That salesman always said he talked himself out of that deal. He felt sure that if he had not been there, the buyer would have kept the goods and would have started his economy on the next salesman.”

Some salesmen with many splendid qualities talk themselves out of business. They tire out their prospect, bore him, disgust him. They do not have tact enough to see that when a prospect begins to move about uneasily in his chair and to look around the room that he wishes they would get out. Now, when a man feels pressed for time, or when you no longer interest him, it is a great mistake to try to hold him or to recover his lost interest. It is high time to stop and close the deal.

Brevity and directness are the very soul of business, and make a good impression on a business man. The roundabout talker, the man who prefaces everything with a long introduction, the man who goes around and around half a dozen times before he gets to the point, tires and irritates a busy man. Good business men are direct. They drive right to the marrow of things at the first plunge; and when a deal is put through, they want to close and go on to the next thing.

The closing step is one of the most important in any business transaction. There are plenty of salesmen who can conduct the progress of a sale clear up to the point of closing the deal quite as well as infinitely better salesmen, but here they fall down. They cannot gather up their threads of persuasive argument and reasoning to make a successful close, and when they become panicky they communicate their fear to the coveted customer, and then the game is up.

Like all other points of salesmanship, the quickest and the simplest way of taking the final step is the best. Closing a deal is the result of having created an earnest wish on the part of the customer for what you have to sell. He must have the “I want it” feeling or you are likely to have trouble. If you have made your customer want your goods, made him see the profit and the pleasure that will accrue to him in buying, then the question of closing the deal becomes very much simplified.

There is a school of experts strongly inclined to what they call “Reason Why” advertising. I think the “Reason Why” school is strongly entrenched. We buy things because there are reasons why we should buy them, and the salesman who can set forth the strongest reasons why, will have the least trouble in closing his deals. The goods may be all right in themselves, but the sale will not be made unless you can make the customer see why he, personally, should buy.

A shrewd salesman will let his prospect or customer handle the samples as much as possible, and let him do the talking. You watch him. You will learn a great deal about the operation of the man’s mind. If he shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head when he picks up a particular sample you had better not talk too much about that; it will not pay to try to convince him; you had better try something else, at least for the moment. If you see that he is anxious to make an impression upon you by his skill and his knowledge of goods, don’t try to switch him to something else. If he expresses an admiration for a certain piece of goods follow it up. If it is regarding the color, or shade, do not go too much into the quality of the texture. Let him take the lead.

In closing, always look for a peaceful and cheerful surrender of the will. If the standards of the house are high, and if the goods are of a high quality, the customer will feel quite reassured in surrendering his will to that of the salesman. He really thinks his will is deciding. Very often he is right, but it is the duty of the salesman to guide the will of the customer, so that the right decision will be made with the least loss of time and energy.

The “winner” salesman does not wait for his prospect to say, “You can put me down for so and so. Yes, I’ll take that.” He uses his own positive mind to guide and bring to a focus the vacillating, almost-decided mind of the prospect, for he knows from experience that the temptation of most buyers is to hang off, to wait. Knowing the processes through which his prospect’s mind is passing, he seizes upon the psychological moment to close up the thing, to bring the man’s mind to a decision.

Always be ready to close. Have plenty of well-sharpened pencils, a fountain pen in good working order, clean order blanks, and every facility at hand for signing orders. The customer should not be expected to fill in name, facts or figures any more than is absolutely necessary. When asked to sign his name, the salesman should indicate clearly the exact line on which the name should be written. The idea is to make everything so simple and easy that the mind of the customer does not have a chance to balk. Human nature is peculiar. Very often men are contrary. They will act against their own best interests, just because they think some one is trying to compel them to do a particular thing. We all love freedom.

In closing a deal, have all minor points made clear, such as time of delivery, method of packing, method of delivery, the way payment is to be made, and all similar details.