PRACTICE is the proven approach to more successful sales interactions, a higher close rate, and better outcomes that drive overall sales. When you Prepare, Relate, Ask the right questions, Capture the buyer’s interest with Features and Benefits, Tackle and overcome objections, Initiate conversion, Close and Execute, you will win.

You have to do your research on the industry, the company, the buyer, the competition, and the product and services you will be pitching.

People buy from people they like and they enjoy spending time with. Get clues from their LinkedIn profile, from items in their office, or from mutual acquaintances. Be prepared to talk their family, their alma mater, their sports team, or whatever it is they have indicated is their passion.

Segue to the topic at hand and ask questions. You have to find pain points, product/service shortcomings, issues. What are they NOT getting from their current supplier that you can use as a foot-in-the-door.

This is it. The time to focus on your company, your product or service. How you’re going to solve their problems. Remember, you’re not selling a pen, you’re selling a story. You’re not offering a drill bit, you’re not even offering the resulting “hole”. You’re helping them visualize that beautiful piece of furniture in their entryway.

It’s never easy. You rarely get to YES without having obstacles, objections, and roadblocks. There are best practices available here-ways to overcome that resistance.

They’ve heard your pitch. They’re considering your proposal. Before you close, you convert them from skeptic to potential. Head nod momentum, Feel/Felt/Found, and other tactics move them down the path to YES.

Every single person out there that doubts their ability to be an effective sales person fears this moment. You have to ask for the sale. Get over that apprehension, and find the thrill of getting a YES.

You stop at YES, and immediately initiate the steps necessary to execute the agreement. Make it so easy on the buyer they don’t have second thoughts. There is no time for Buyer’s Remorse when everyone is on board to convert.