It was a seminar for salespeople held in New Orleans in the mid ‘70s. The stage had been set up with an overhead projector and a huge screen. The audience was about fifteen hundred strong, all salespeople from various companies in the area who had paid about fifteen dollars per person to attend the gathering. The speaker cleared his throat and the audience quieted down awaiting the presentation.

“Before we begin” he started, “I want to have the two strongest men in the audience to come up here.” Two big guys were encouraged by their friends and others in the crowd, rose and made their way to the stage. “Now,” continued the speaker, “I want the best looking woman here to come up.” A good-looking saleswoman from the floor was pushed forward and joined the trio on the stage. “And now,” said the speaker, “Surely in this group of salesmen someone has a $100 bill.” A bill was handed up to the stage. The speaker rolled the “Franklin” and put it in his ear, he motioned to the two big guys to hold him up as he leaned backwards. The woman was told to put her arms around his neck and hug him.

“Here I am . . . money coming out of my ears, being supported by the two strongest men around and hugged by a beautiful lady . . . and all I did was ask!”

The speaker was Dick Gardiner, President of the National Association of Sales Education, a group who put on seminars in all parts of the country, featuring famed motivational speakers like Paul Harvey, Dr. Maxwell Maltz, J. Douglas Edwards, Zig Ziglar and the like. This seminar was on “Closing the Deal” and Gardiner was the educator. His opening point was that closing is simply asking for the order, but it is usually the hardest part of the presentation for any salesperson to confront. The close is often avoided at all costs, probably out of a fear of rejection.

For the body of his presentation, Gardiner held up a Doctor Seuss book for all to see. The title was “Green Eggs and Ham.” Anyone with children probably has memories of this children’s book as it has been in print for ages and enjoyed by many generations of kids. The picture book is peopled with Seuss’ interesting characters, including an unnamed lead and the protagonist, Sam-I-Am. With a fifty word vocabulary, the book traces the attempts by Sam-I-Am to get the unnamed character to eat “green eggs and ham.” The lead guy keeps refusing as Sam goes through a litany of offers like “try them in a house with a mouse,” or “with a moose in a caboose . . . “ Each successive offer is refused until finally he agrees. After the first bite, the surprised unnamed lead exclaims that he likes the green-eggs-and-ham and he repeats all of Sam-I-Am’s offers, saying he would eat them “with a mouse in a house” or a “with a moose in a caboose” and so on.

Gardiner used the overhead projector to display the pages of the book as he read it to the audience, making side comments as he read, about the persistence of Sam-I-Am. When he had finished, Gardiner paused succinctly, then proceeded to tell the audience that Sam had closed the sale because he didn’t quit when he heard “no” from his prospective customer, he just offered alternatives until the sales resistance was gone.

In closing, Gardiner pointed out that closing doesn’t always mean a successful conclusion to the presentation, but it means that all alternatives have been offered. Even if the sale wasn’t made, the salesperson knows exactly where they stand and what their next approach will be.