Here are the seven basic rules of closing a sale: Establish your credibility.When people are confident that you know the answers they don't ask so many questions. Know your product. Know the risks and benefits of what you are selling, so you can distinguish the people who should buy it from those who shouldn't. Know your client. Listen with your head and heart to hear what your prospects need and want. Keep it simple. Do you remember who gave the Gettysburg Address? A man named Edward Everett gave the speech, which lasted for an hour and a half. President Lincoln had been asked simply to say a few words to close the program. People always remember things best when you keep it simple. Sell concepts and benefits. Sales are made beneath the neck--in the heart or in the stomach. Be careful to disclose the facts and figures, but always sell concepts and benefits. Communicate your enthusiasm, your certainty, and your commitment. Sales happen as a result of your communication of the product's benefits, your enthusiasm for and certainty of the product, and your commitment to your prospects. Take a chance. So much information and so many alternatives are now available that prospects are confused and can't make a decision. Your prospects need you more than they've ever needed you. They need you to tell them what to do. Excerpted from Million Dollar Selling Techniques, now available from the MDRT Center for Productivity (1-800-TRY-MDRT) and in all major booksellers (amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Borders Books, and Crown Books). For more information call 1-800-TRY-MDRT or access the MDRT Center for Productivity web site on http://www.mdrtcfp.org.