Selling better is certainly an achievable goal—for any sales rep. It doesn’t take black magic to close more deals. Although some of what makes you a great sales person comes from within, many sales skills can be learned. With the proper strategies, you can start to close more sales.

Use these tips to perfecting your sales pitch and you’ll be selling better in no time.

Identify Your Prospect’s Needs

Selling better becomes pretty easy when you listen better. When you really pay attention to what your prospect is telling you, you can better understand what he needs so you can provide an appropriate solution to his problems with one of your offerings.

However, he’s also going to have latent needs that you need to uncover, too. Ask the right questions—and lots of them—to determine what motivates him, what he stands to gain from purchasing your offering, and how making this purchase can get him recognition within his company. Listen to what he’s not saying to determine his latent goals.

This information will greatly help you customize your sales pitch to ensure you’re highlighting the prospect’s unique needs and how your products or services can fulfill them. You’ll be able to craft a personalized value proposition that draws him in.

Describe the Benefits

Prospects are more interested in how they can benefit from purchasing your products—they don’t really care about the specs and technical details. They want to know how buying something will enrich their lives. Maybe it will allow them to improve efficiency, save time, or reduce costs. Maybe it will provide them with a better lifestyle. Instead of explaining your product’s features, turn those features into benefits that play into your prospects’ needs and desires. 

Overcome Objections

When you’re so close to closing the deal, you don’t want a common objection to kill it. The fact is your product probably won’t be completely perfect for every client—the price will be too high, the shipping times too long, or the colour too flashy. Consider the objections you might hear ahead of time and prepare talking points to address the concerns before they damage all of your hard work.

Think Outside the Box

If your current sales process isn’t particularly effective at attracting, keeping, or converting clients, it’s time to be resourceful. Think outside of the box and come up with innovative ways to reach out and spread your message. You should be using every asset and resource you have. Sometimes, selling better requires you to step back from the traditional sales processes and methods and create your own path to success.

Be Confident

Your prospects can smell fear off of you. They can tell if you’re uncomfortable—you’ll fidget, avoid eye contact, and stumble over your words. They can tell if you don’t believe in your own products or services—it’ll be obvious from your lack of enthusiasm. Selling better can be achieved by believing in yourself and what you’re selling. These feelings will rub off on your prospects. No one wants to buy anything from a nervous guy who doesn’t think he’s selling value.

Ask for the Sale

Some sales people are afraid to be direct and ask for the sale. But it’s far better for you to hear a straight-up “no” than wasting more of your time on a prospect that will never ultimately buy from you. You don’t have to be so obvious, either. A simple “are you ready to move ahead with this?” can be all you need to direct the conversation towards the actual purchase.

Start Selling Better Today

So there you have it. Selling better can be accomplished by identifying your prospects’ needs, focusing on the benefits of what you’re selling, effectively overcoming objections, thinking outside the box, displaying confidence, and finally, asking for the sale. When you use these six tips, you can start selling better—today.