Many salespeople take a "logical" approach to sales. They think of themselves as engaged in an argument (not in the sense of "argumentative"). The prospect doesn't think that their solution is required. The salesperson does. The salesperson sets out to convince and persuade the prospect to adopt his/her position. The backbone of this approach is logical argumentation. But, the question is "does logical argumentation work in sales?" Most sales people think it does. Or, at least, they would like to think it does. How many times have you heard a salesperson launch into an apparently rational list of reasons to buy their product? The trouble is that almost every time, if you're not already ready to buy, you don't pay any attention. No matter how rational their argument, you don't want to buy. Why is this? Are you irrational? The salesperson thinks so. She says, increduously, "How can you pass up this offer?!". Any, maybe the offer really is good. But, you still don't buy. Here are two possible explanations. One possible reason you still don't buy is that you fear that there is something hidden, something the salesperson isn't telling you. After all, you start to think, if it's really this good of a deal, why is he offering it? Here, the salesperson's enthusiasm works directly against him. The more excisted he gets, the more you start to wonder what's really at stake. Why is he so giddy? Am I being scammed? So, the fear of some unknown catch prevents you from accepting what might sound like a good offer. Another possible reason is that you don't intend to buy at all. Either you're not in a buying mood (frame-of-mind) or you just don't want to buy anything from this person. No amount of rational argumentation is going to change your mind about those fundamental attitudes. In effect, you're on a different level than the salesperson. She is trying to convince you about the offer, and you're not even concerned with the offer. You're concerned either with something else entirely or with the salesperson herself! I suppose the salesperson might take a step back and try to address those concerns directly, instead of assuming them. Would that even work? What if he said "I can see you don't wanto buy anything today. Am I right? Yes? Ok. What if I called you later?". Again, the enthusiasm works against him. Why is he so eager? What if he said, "I think you don't want to buy anything from me. Is that right? Yes? Ok, how can I convince you to trust me?". As we all know, people who tell you they are trustworthy are not perceived as trustworthy. I think the solution, if there is one, for the salesperson to step back and calm down. She needs to realize that a frontal assault, no matter how rational, isn't going to work. Only by taking her own interests out of the conversation (don't be so eager) and by demonstrating trust over several meetings, will she be able to get back to the place where she can talk about the offer.