Whenever I run into a prospect that is slow in making their decision to buy my product, I think back to a phone call I made to a sales prospect from a phone booth located on the mezzanine level of the MetLife building in New York City. I’ll never forget it because it was the first time I ever conjured up the confidence to ask my prospect permission to close his file, and walk away if he wasn’t interested in doing business. It was a gutsy move that paid off. I closed the sale!

What I learned from the experience was that in any negotiation, often times the best deal you'll ever make is the one you can walk away from. If you are unwilling to walk away from the bargaining table, chances are good that you will settle for less than you bargained for, like lowering your price, or helping your prospect buy from the competition. Perish the thought...

Especially during tough times when you really need new customers, prospects play a clever negotiating game that pulls you in emotionally, and that's when you can weaken your chances of closing the order. Once the prospect senses that you need the order they woo you in their their false sense of committment, waste your valuable selling time, and doom your chances of closing the deal anytime soon.

What I learned in that phone booth almost 20-years ago was that when I offer to close my prospect's sales file, I am signaling to my prospect that am not dying for their business, and I can see things objectively. A good negotiator usually does this. Desperation is NOT a very good negotiating tactic. Thus, by offering to close the file I found out that I could bring things to a close quickly, and get a decision much faster than playing along with the stall tactics that prospects are famous for. Better to know sooner than later I always say.

In this recorded call I had with a sales prospect, notice how I work things in the opposite direction of what the prospect expected to hear, and in doing so I actually sound like I am 'un-selling' the deal to get a truthful decision. That's what I am always looking for. When I ask this prospect for permission to close his file I make absolutely certain that there isn't a real opportunity to do business. This disqualifies my prospect easily, without exerting any pressure, and it frees up my time to go after someone else.

Sometimes the deal just isn't meant to be. Better to find that out before getting on airplanes, or driving for hours in traffic to go through a painful ordeal of getting false committments from unqualified prospects. Want to know whether you really have a qualified sale in the works? Try offering to close their file! You'll get to the truth a lot faster, and without having to squeeze.