Christine Clifford - Lets Close a Deal: Turn Contacts Into Paying Customers for Your Company, Product, Service or Cause

Additional Praise for Let's Close a Deal

Christine Clifford has obviously studied the art of the dealher approach to deal-making is the real deal!

Monty Hall, host of television's Let's Make a Deal

Just because you have a brilliant idea, valuable venture, or beneficial product/servicedoesn't mean it will succeed. You must be able to close the deal and get a yes from customers and decision makers. This intriguing, useful book shows how.

Sam Horn, Author of POP! and THE EYEBROW TEST

Let's Close a Deal is a treasure trove of practical ideas to help you create brand-new sales and delight clients with surprisingly little effort. I love Christine Clifford's triple-win approach to selling.

Graham McGregor, President of TWOMAC Consulting, Ltd; Creator of The Unfair Business Advantage Report

Christine Clifford has demystified the concept of deal making, while providing a step-by-step framework that any aspiring entrepreneur, regardless of their product or service, can use to take their business to a whole new level. Let's Close a Deal not only contains a host of very smart and practical information, it is also highly inspirational. This is a great book.

Andrew Griffiths, Australia's #1 Small Business Author

At a time when business ethics seems to have become an oxymoron, Christine Clifford shares valuable insights on how salespeople can be successful and also principled. As she puts it in elegantly simple terms, It is never okay to close a deal that is only self-serving. I highly recommend this book.

Chris Lowney, author of Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year Old Company That Changed the World and Heroic Living: Discover Your Purpose and Change the World

I started reading Let's Close a Deal because I read everything that Christine Clifford writes, but I finished reading it because everything she says is so on-target for my own business and for the organizations we work with. This is much more than a book about closing dealsit's a handbook of priceless advice for building relationships and building a successful business. Anyone who is in salesand that's all of us in one way or anothercan benefit from the wisdom, insights, and humor that Christine weaves into this wonderful book.

Joe Tye, CEO of Values Coach Inc. and author of All Hands on Deck: 8 Essential Lessons for Building a Culture of Ownership

Christine Clifford proves that selling is never about closing. It's always something we forgot or neglected to do earlier in the sales process. She peppers her narrative with engaging and wow stories. Build relationships, don't take no for an answer, engage your creativity, and ask for referralspowerful reminders for all salespeople.

Joanne S. Black, author of No More Cold Calling

What a fantastic job Christine Clifford has done with Let's Close a Deal It is an incredibly inspiring read and jam-packed full of easy-to-understand, practical information which anyone can implement to enjoy increased sales, increased profits and increased fun. Let's Close a Deal is an absolute must-have!

Paul Vujnovich, entrepreneur and founder of FindMyRealEstateAgent.co.nz

Cover image: Andrea Leone/iStockphoto

Cover design: Jeff Faust

Copyright Christine Clifford 2013. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com . Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions .

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Clifford, Christine.

Let's close a deal : turn contacts into paying customers for your company, product, service or cause / Christine Clifford.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-118-52155-7 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-59675-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-59677-7 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-59692-0 (ebk)

1. Selling. 2. Customer relations. I. Title.

HF5438.25.C55 2013

658.85dc23

2012049237

In memory of Jack Lindstrom,
a partner extraordinaire with whom
I closed one of the biggest deals of my life:
his friendship.

Foreword

You're wrong ...if you think this book is about how to peddle products and services and pressure people to buy what they don't want or need, or if you think this is a book full of psychobabble about human behavior in buying or selling.

Instead, Christine Clifford has methodically addressed the subject of sales and selling in an illuminating, articulate, sincere, and provocative manner. I can tell you from personal experience that it is impossible to say no to her. And in her writing, she draws on her well-developed sales skills and important lessons she has learned about selling in a passionate way that will allow you to apply and benefit from her advice immediately.

Christine is a survivor...of breast cancer, of divorce, of domestic violence, of financial difficulty, of having to make it in a world that isn't always kind to those who are successful, especially a woman. She has worked her way through each challenge by applying the skills that she learned and developed in sales. She understands the difference between high-pressure selling to get someone to buy versus solving that person's problem or meeting his or her need with a well-conceived solution.

Having served as chairman and a member of the boards of directors for many companies and as a president and CEO of large successful enterprises, I have observed the good, the bad, and the ugly salespeople and processes. Unfortunately, the good salespeople and processes are the exception, not the rule.