One of the secrets of top sales people is that they never stop working on their sales persuasion techniques. Every lead, every prospect, and every client is different, and smart sales people know that there is no one size fits all approach to selling success. With that in mind, practicing these seven sales persuasion techniques can help you improve your numbers, and set you on the road to record sales.

1. Send the right message

You might have the best product on the market and know all of the right words to sell it, but if you don’t look the part, your sales are likely stalling. Prospects want to do business with a professional, and one’s interpretation of “professional” includes the look. Disheveled clothing, poorly prepared notes, and other indicators of a salesperson in a rush can make even the most effective sales persuasion techniques fall on deaf ears.

2. Focus on building trust

Trust is the cornerstone of sales in any market, and the bedrock of all sales persuasion techniques. Build trust with your prospects and clients, and sales are sure to follow. Nurture leads so that they feel you are listening to their needs and are willing to make a contribution to their business, and never rush into a sale. High pressure tactics don’t work nearly as well for long term sales that build in value as an approach centered on trust.

3. Point out the differentiators

All sales people looking for new sales persuasion techniques have heard that it’s the sizzle, not the steak, that leads to a deal. The key is understanding that the sizzle is in the differentiators, what makes a product or service better, faster, more desirable than the competition’s answer. Your task is to identify these “sizzles” and sell based on how these will build a prospect’s business.

4. Build a sense of urgency

Urgency is one of the most important sales persuasion techniques because it works. However, sales persuasion techniques based on urgency don’t need to involve pressure and clear cut deadlines to be effective; even implying that a deal that closes before you leave a pitch could somehow be better than a deal that closes next week can build the urgency needed to make sales in record time.

5. Lead prospects to a sale

Many sales people use the wrong approach, telling prospects what the sales person believes the prospect wants to hear. Asking persuasive questions can make the prospect decide on a purchase on their own. Questions like “Do you need a product that works quickly or a product that takes time?” or “Would you like to use X financing or Y financing?” are known as double binds, and can be very effective sales persuasion techniques.

6. Ask for the business

Even for top sales people, direct sales persuasion techniques are difficult to master. Psychologically, it is difficult to come out and ask, “So, when will you take delivery?” or “Can I count on your signature?” Yet a sales person who doesn’t ask this question when appropriate will see sales slipping through their fingers at the last minute. Master the art of asking for the business, and you’ll see your sales numbers improve almost overnight.