marketing+sales: Partner Selling:

I love soft selling, and silence is an excellent soft close. If you have enough confidence to remain quiet, simply review your offer, ask for the sale and wait until your prospect speaks. For most people, silence is uncomfortable. This is the only pressure I'd ever suggest you use.

Additional closes that might be helpful are:

• The Little Decision Close. First, get prospects to commit to a style or color they like rather than to making the purchase. Then, try one of the other closes.

• The Premium Offer Close. "Buy now and we'll include ..."

• The Doorknob Close. As you are walking out of the prospect's office, say, "Oh, by the way ... I'm really interested in knowing what is the real reason you decided not to buy today." At this point, they feel safe and will provide an honest answer. Then, as a good partner, say, "Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about that. Let me further explain." Next, go to the "feel, felt, found" method of overcoming objections and when you have answered all questions, try a different close.

• The Ask-for-It Close: There is nothing wrong with simply asking for your prospect to buy. The three great words that will change your life are: Ask For It. Be a bold and fearless partner, overcome rejection and doubt.

While the above suggestions are not guaranteed to work all the time, they will lead to more meaningful relationships with your prospects and customers and a faster sell.

By Ed Rigsbee, CSP, CAE

This article was originally published by Ed Rigsbee, CSP, CAE, in 2001 and was heavily edited in 2012. Rigsbee is the author of three books on business collaboration: "PartnerShift," "Developing Strategic Alliances" and "The Art of Partnering." He has more than 2,000 print-published articles to his credit and is a regular keynote presenter at corporate and trade association conferences internationally. Many know Rigsbee as "The ROI Guy." For more information, visit www.rigsbee.com. To access additional information at no charge, visit www.rigsbee.com/downloadaccess.htm.