rocess]

Nothing so _unbalances_ the process of securing a favorable decision and
its pronouncement as any indication of fear, doubt, or hesitancy in the
attitude of the salesman. Therefore, even though you may be uncertain as
to the outcome of your selling efforts, _do not show it_. Long before
you came to the decision point, you passed the worst dangers on the
road to the end of the sale. Surely your courage should be _strongest_
at the closing stage.

[Sidenote: Light Dissipates Fear and Doubt]

Fear usually arises from something _unknown_; it is due only to
_darkness_. Since you _know_ now just what closing involves, and _light_
has been shed on the problems of getting the prospect's "Yes," your
fears and doubts should be dissipated. _You should not hesitate to end
the sale you have controlled successfully throughout previous stages_.
Our analysis has revealed that closing is no more difficult than winning
attention to your proposition in the first place. As a result, your
present attitude toward closing is _positive_. Your courage and
self-confidence have been built up. You realize just _how_ success in
finishing a well-conducted sale can be made practically _sure_.

[Sidenote: Negatives Must be Avoided]

Certain _negative_ attitudes at the closing stage should be avoided.
Especially do not throw into the scales of decision any little pleas for
_personal favor_, with the hope that in so doing you will increase the
weight on the "Yes" side. Such tactics almost invariably tend to tip the
balance _un_favorably. A plea of this sort is equivalent to an admission
that the ideas you have presented _for_ buying do not _themselves_
outweigh the prospect's images _against_ buying. You suggest to him that
you are trying to push the balance down on your side by putting your
finger on it, by "weighing in your hand," as unfair butchers sometimes
do with a chicken they hold on the scales by the legs.

[Sidenote: "As a Personal Favor to Me"]

The prospect will instantly perceive your action. _His mind, acting on
the principle of the gyroscope, will resist by greater opposition any
push of the personal plea_. If you ask a decision as a personal favor,
your prospect will lose confidence in the true weight of the ideas on
your side that you have already registered in his mind. You are much
more likely to hurt than to help your chances for success by making a
personal plea. Even if it should prove effective, what you get that w