Say you're buying a car. After a lot of conversation, you decide on the model you want with the options you want. At that point, you turn to the salesman and say: “Take your time. Get it to me whenever you can.”

Or say you're looking to replace your broken dryer. At the appliance store, you select a dryer that meets all your needs. The salesman nods and says to you: “We'll get one to you “ when we can.”

Crazy? Of course. When you and I want something, we want it now. There may be exceptions, but they're few. The key word here is want. If a salesperson hasn't convinced me that I want his product and that I want to do business with him, I won't be buying on a one-call close or a 50-call close.

On the other hand, if the salesperson has helped me realize that I want or need that product and given me the desire to purchase, then I say let's get it on.

Now I know not everybody buys this way, but most do. My belief is you do all you can to convince folks to buy right then, right there. If they have a legitimate reason for not buying right away, I'll work with them to remove that reason. If it takes days, weeks, or months, I still want their business. But I'm not egotistical enough to believe that the fact that they don't buy means they just want to spend more time with me. They want my product and they want it today, not next week or next month. And they need me to convince them that they want it. That's why folks talk with a salesperson.

When you help people get what they want or need, and help them get it sooner rather than later, they'll do business with you.

I recently met with a group of salespeople. I asked those who took more than one visit to close if they thought it was due to their own inhibitions or the inhibitions of their prospects. Every one said it was due to their personal inhibitions. If you don't attempt to close on one call, it's your problem, not your prospect's.—Phil Rea has conducted more than 13,200 in-home sales calls and trained more than 1,750 salespeople. He shares his sales strategies each month with salespeople across the country through his MasterMind Program. For more information, call 866.441.7445.