A salesperson called on me and had a service that was new, but enticing. I thought I could use it, and when the product or service is something I want, I usually end up closing myself. I told the salesperson I was good to go but that since there were some complexities to the who, when, where and how, I asked him to put it in writing.

I received the proposal, electronically, in a couple of days. There was a problem:

• It was 18 pages.
• Most of the 18 pages had nothing to do with what he was going to do for me.
• I didn’t have time to read 18 pages of irrelevance.
• I wasn’t interested in reading anything more than a page.
• I didn’t require a legal document – just the basics of what was going to happen.
• The time required to review this was worth more than what I was paying for the service.

As a result of the problems mentioned above, I did something unusual for me. Nothing. I didn’t sign it. I didn’t approve it. I didn’t call and ask questions. I just ignored it. Then the salesperson called and asked if I had reviewed it. I explained my 6 frustrations and asked him to simply send something that applied to what we were doing together.

Fortunately for him, and as it turned out, me, he sent me a one page proposal which was simple and to the point, had what I needed to see and I signed it and returned it. Great lesson for him. Great lesson for you. Why give your prospects something to think about, or worse, something they’ll choose to ignore?

For more of the things you should and shouldn’t do at closing time, reread the chapter on Scoring in your copy of Baseline Selling. To apply the concepts of Baseline Selling to your business, order the Baseline Selling Field Guide.