The sale is alive until the customer tells you it's dead... even after you've won!

I was sitting in an airport reading a blog last week and came across one that said the sale was never over until you heard a ‘No’.   I apologize for not getting  the name of the person who wrote it, but whoever it was, was right!

I was reminded of my second exposure to the world of sales:  I was in the Army at Fort Sheridan, north of Chicago, and did some ‘moonlighting’ to make extra money at a fashionable men’s clothing store in Highland Park, Illinois:  The Fell Company.  The owner was Red Fell, who was a highly successful salesman.  The store, founded in the early 1900s remained successful for generations; in fact, it was just announced that Fell Company sold their 27,000 sq. ft. retail building in Highland Park for $4.1 million!

Red told me, “Jim, you have to hear ‘No’ before you’ll ever be successful.

One time I rung-up a suit sale.  After the customer left, Red asked me if I heard a ‘No’.  I said, of course not!  I sold the suit!

That’s when Red taught me about the word ‘No’.   He said, Jim, the sale is never over until you hear ‘No’… and that sale was still alive!

“It was?”

“Absolutely!  On the way to the register, you passed all kinds of opportunities to pick out a nice looking shirt and tie to show how they go with the shirt…. Maybe a set of cuff-links.  You keep going until you hear “No”… THAT’S when the sale’s over.  Not before!”

I put that lesson to good use in my ad sales days.  It was always AFTER the contract was signed, I’d walk half-way to the door, then turn around and  ask, “Do you know what would make your campaign REALLY stand out?”  Sometimes, they’d say `What?’, and I’d be selling them color!

I had one tactic – which I used on full-year campaigns AFTER the deal was closed – that several times resulted in getting ALL  the money for the entire year, in cash, in advance!

So, always remember… the sale is ALWAYS alive… even after the close… until they tell you it’s over.

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