The Benjamin Franklin close
Use a shared balance sheet to help a buyer weigh reasons to proceed, reasons to pause, and the evidence still missing.
When this helps
The buyer sees potential value but needs to compare meaningful trade-offs. Also called the Ben Franklin or balance-sheet close.
A question to make your ownWould it help to write down what supports moving forward and what still gives you pause?
Build the two sides together
Invite the buyer to name the benefits they expect and the concerns they still have. Write their words, not a list designed to make your side longer. Include implementation effort, ongoing costs, switching costs, and the option of doing nothing. Ask permission before adding a consideration they have not mentioned.
Weight the reasons instead of counting them
Ask which factors matter most and whether any concern is a deal-breaker. Five minor conveniences cannot cancel out a serious security or affordability problem. Mark each item as confirmed, estimated, or unknown. An optional importance score can organize the discussion, but a total does not make the decision for the buyer.
Turn the biggest uncertainty into a useful action
Ask what evidence would resolve the most important concern. It might be a scoped demonstration, a reference conversation, or an implementation review. Assign an owner and a date only if both sides agree. If the balance points away from buying, acknowledge that.
Ask what the balance sheet tells the buyer
Summarize the trade-offs and let the buyer draw the conclusion. Ask whether they are ready to proceed, need one more piece of evidence, or prefer to pause. The historical name does not establish that Benjamin Franklin invented the sales script; this is a modern sales application of a pros-and-cons decision aid.
What it can sound like
Illustrative conversation: Buyer: “This could reduce duplicate work, but migration worries me.” Seller: “Let’s put both on the sheet. Is migration a question we can investigate, or a reason this would not be workable? What would you need to see?”
A balance sheet to build together
Illustrative entries for an onboarding service. Replace these with the buyer’s own priorities. The most important concern may outweigh every benefit.
| Reasons to proceed | Reasons to pause | Evidence or next action |
|---|---|---|
| A named owner for each handoff | Unclear migration effort | Review the data and scope cleanup |
| Less repeated administration | Time needed for team training | Confirm a realistic training plan |
| Clearer client updates | Budget is not yet approved | Ask the budget owner to review costs |
Ask: Which factor matters most? Is anything a deal-breaker? What would you need to know before deciding?
What to watch for
Filling the benefits column yourself, minimizing the concerns, or treating the number of items as proof that the buyer should buy.
One thing to try.
Create three columns: reason to proceed, reason to pause, and evidence or next action. Have the buyer identify the most important factor before discussing a decision.
Put it into practiceTake it to your AI assistant
Add anonymized context to this prompt. Review the response against what you know about the buyer.