@vicktipnes: The smartest people in any room are the ones still willing to ask what something means. The ones who get defensive when you ask a simple question? That's how you know they have no idea what they're talking about. Every bit of progress humanity has ever made came from someone asking a basic question nobody else was brave enough to ask. Stop chasing the close so hard that you forget to actually understand the person in front of you. The best salespeople I know sell you completely, and you never even realize it happened. This week, ask one question you'd normally be embarrassed to ask, and watch what it actually reveals.