Prospects who have only "narrowed it down" to two or more possible product or service choices are not yet psychologically ready to buy. Isn't that what you've experienced? No matter what they may say, no matter how positive their signals may seem to be, no matter how polite they may act when they're talking to you, two or more choices that are still on the prospect's plate will always boil down to some form of "Let me think about it." And "Let me think about it" is not an invitation to close!

On the other hand, if you're discussing only one unique, impossible-to-duplicate buying option with a prospect, something he or she likes and can't possibly get elsewhere, that's a whole different story. People who are clearly focused on "whether it makes sense" to go ahead and buy X are certainly more qualified sales leads than the people who are "narrowing it down" to X, Y, or Z.

The Master Closers in the world of auto sales have followed this Closing Rule for years. A consumer who has started to fall in love with a white sedan with a moon roof and satellite radio has just made all other white cars on the lot irrelevant.

To pick another industry, if a prospect for a computer hasn't decided whether to buy a laptop, a tablet, or a desktop, the salesperson has not yet completed the critical job of qualifying the opportunity. Once the prospect is obsessed with a specific, snazzy new tablet computer that comes with a 9.7-inch, 1024 x 768 display, a new dual core A5 CPU, a full gigabyte of memory, a pair of cameras, and a special extended service plan, the whole dynamic of the conversation has shifted. We're now talking about one offering—one in a million, one of a kind, the one and only from the prospect's point of view—and we have effectively qualified the opportunity. The discussion is no longer about which computer to buy; it's about when to buy that computer.

Once both of you know what the one offering that really makes the most sense, then you can start thinking about how to close the sale. But not before! If the prospect hasn't yet settled on the "one of a kind," then any external pressure you try to apply is only going to alienate your prospect. That external pressure won't point you toward the unique, impossible-to-duplicate option that will make the decision to commit easy for both sides.

The prospect must clearly identify the "right package" before you can expect to close the deal and win the business. When that happens, you as a salesperson also become unique. You won't need pressure.

To be in compliance with Closing Rule 25, don't try to close the sale until you know for sure that the prospect has eliminated all but one possible path for purchasing your product or service.

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