New people are hired, chosen to be as similar to old as possible, and then they get grafted. You have one person working in your office, one “thinking head” on many bodies. Nothing new is coming in, and no one’s free to evolve. You are setting yourself up to die out, and here’s why. The “domestication” of your office will dangerously compromise its fitness to compete.

Look what happens when you do that to apple. Apples don’t grow “true-to-seed,” and there are potentially an infinite variety of apples possible. In grocery we see industry favorites--Golden Delicious, Winesap, Gala, Fuji, Red Delicious, but in an orchard, if trees were allowed to seed freely, you would see “apples” you would never know were “apples.” They could be purple, oval, lumpy, tasteless, so bitter you spit them out, soft and mushy, bright yellow, striped … anything is possible in “seeding” world.

I think most people have read this Dr. Seuss tale either as kids or to their children. What is interesting is relevance this story has to selling. First of all, Sam is selling a product and although his prospect is not initially interested, Sam doesn’t let that deter him from asking. Secondly, Sam consistently offers prospect a choice when trying to close sale. Thirdly, he refuses to give up. No matter how many times his prospect says ‘no’ Sam keeps offering alternatives. In fact, he offers fourteen options before he finally closes sale.

Now, I am not suggesting that you pester your customers or prospects but I do believe most people give up too early in sales process. We hear a few “no’s” and decide to turn our attention elsewhere. It is your responsibility as a sales professional to ask customer to make a decision - you cannot expect a customer to do work for you. If you have been effective in learning about their specific needs and current situation and presented appropriate solution to your prospect then you have earned right to ask them for their money. Here are a few ideas that will help you reach this point:

Avoid launching into a lengthy discussion of what you can do for your client until you thoroughly understand what business challenges they face and problems, concerns or issues they need resolved. Use open questioning to gather this information and avoid making assumptions or jumping to conclusions too quickly. Instead, listen carefully to what they say and clarify anything that is not clear. Ask them to elaborate by using prompters such as “uh-huh,” “tell me more,” and “what else?”

When it comes time to present your product or service, try not to limit prospect to one option. Provide a choice of solutions that meet their specific concerns. Explain benefits of each option, and when necessary, also discuss drawbacks of each alternative. However, do not present so many options that decision becomes overwhelming or difficult. Be prepared to tell your prospect which option best suits their needs if they ask.