The Place Where Sales People Meet, Swap Stories, and Ask Questions.

What We Are About

Coffee & Closing is devoted to telling the story of the sales profession. More than 100 million people worldwide call Sales their living, but few professions are as wrought with as many stereotypes, and so much misinformation and negativity. The used car salesperson; you can tell salespeople are lying because their lips are moving; movies like “Glengarry Glen Ross”, depicting a sales manager berating his salespeople, saying his watch is worth more than their cars. We know there are grains of truth in all stereotypes and generalities, however. All professions have them. We just want to tell the rest of the sales story.

A Day in the Life

Its goal is to tell the real story of people who sell for a living, and at the same time, to portray how universal the people and the situations are. If you think about it, salespeople are in a unique position to tell a story about human nature. They meet new people every day, in different situations, across organizations and industries. People know salespeople are there to sell them something. And, even though their product or service delivers value and a return on investment to the company, salespeople are still often viewed as a necessary evil. Think about it further from the customer’s side. Although salespeople hear no more than they hear yes, it’s a lot easier for most of us to avoid someone than face them, especially if we are delivering bad news. In the daily struggle, salespeople forget that customers help them to earn a living, and aren’t there to just bust their chops. And, customers have to let go of the fact that salespeople aren’t stuck in the office like some of them are, and may have more flexibility with their time –but they also have little things like sales quotas to meet. It’s definitely not for the meek of heart. You combine all that drama with customers wanting to get the best product for the best price, and salespeople pushing to make it happen sooner rather than later…..and it does becomes a fascinating cat and mouse game for all involved. Read More…

Any Sales Question

Its name is designed to be catchy, but its intent is not to be a know-it-all-source for any sales question anyone could possibly think of. Rather, it is designed to be a place where salespeople, and anyone else who has been involved in a sales situation, can ask a question. The question could come from a salesperson who is just curious to see what we have to say, a person tasked with buying something from a salesperson, or maybe someone who is involved indirectly in a purchasing evaluation. CoffeeandClosing is about telling the story of Sales, and it can’t be told only from the perspective of the salesperson. Read More…

Why Coffee and Closing?