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Sales Speak: How to Close New Business

By Larry Bodine
March 28, 2013

There is a tried and true method to seal the deal with a new client ' an area that many lawyers have trouble with. Attorneys are typically very good at describing their skills and recounting problems they have solved for other clients, but they struggle with asking for the business.

In sales, this is known as “the close,” which is actually the easiest step in the sales process, so long as you have set up the foundation that leads up to it. There are five steps:

  1. Research.
  2. Connect.
  3. Meet.
  4. Establish Rapport.
  5. Follow up.

Bear in mind that business development is just like dating. If a guy were to ask a gal to go out, he wouldn't ask her to get married on the first date. There's usually a lot of getting-to-know-you and courtship involved, and then eventually, if it works out, you get to the close. And that's where we all want to be.

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