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If you have followed your sales process you will have already dealt with any objections or reasons not to buy, so there should be no problem in getting a positive response. Now you wont sell everything you pitch for but you will have a much better chance than if you don't ask for the business.

You would never do that I hear you say.

Well I am in total agreement with you, it should never happen - but you will be very surprised to hear that this happens all of the time and sometimes from very experienced sales people. To be perfectly honest, I don't really know the reason that would make sales people go through a whole sales presentation, getting to know their prospect, the prospects' needs, matching the needs of the prospect to the product or service they are selling and then not asking for the business.

Some Sales People get themselves all worked up when they know they have to try to close a sale. I know it sounds crazy, but it's the best reason I can offer. Closing is a feared word in sales for some Salespeople but it really doesn't need to be. If you always follow a proven sales process it's not a problem because when you get to the end of it, it should be the one thing that you do automatically.

at the end of your presentation, it's really easy to ask you prospect a straight forward question 'would they like to go ahead?'?'

If you have followed your sales process properly, you will have already dealt with any objections or reasons not to buy, so there should be no problem in getting a positive response. Now you wont sell everything you pitch for but you will have a much better chance than if you don't ask for the business.

You may have heard the phrase - 'if you don't ask, you don't get' - this is very true in sales. So if you are going to go through the sales process make sure you ask for the business at the end of it - or you'll find that you have just wasted your time snd your prospects.

Always ask for the business, even if you think you're not going to get it -you may well surprise yourself. There have been many occassions that I have got the business by asking for it, even though I had inwardly thought that there was no sale to be made. So always, always ask for the business.