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It is tempting to try to close the sale on your first encounter with a prospect. After all, you do not make money by giving presentations; you actually need to garner a purchase. Money is tight for everybody these days, so it is logical that you would want to try to make as much money as possible quickly. The integral fact to remember is that your prospects are in the same situation. They may not be able to purchase your offering right now, even if they want to. Or, they might want to think about it for awhile. In any case, you cannot give up after a little natural opposition, which you yourself would give to any salesperson approaching you.
Before a prospect becomes a customer, you often need to develop a relationship with them and prove that you can satisfy their needs. This cannot be achieved in a short amount of time, and it takes input over a long period before a prospect decides to finally buy. Sometimes you may work with a prospect for months and they will not come through, but that is okay. There will always be people who feign interest but never have an intention to go through with the transaction. However, there are just as many people, if not more, who have legitimate reasons for not buying right away, and simply need time. Most sales problems can be understand by putting yourself in the customer's shoes. If you were in their position, wouldn't you want time as well?
Every prospect that you throw away will end up going to a competitor, and once they have found someone else, the difficulty of making them your customer increases tenfold. Which would you rather prefer; working hard to gain a customer, or working harder to take them away from a competitor? The answer should be clear.
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