There’s no shortage of sales tools out there that promise to improve your selling abilities. While some of them may deliver exactly what they promise, it’s hard to separate them from the plethora of gimmicky, scammy sales tools available. Out of all the sales tools that are available, there are a few that truly stand the test of time. Here, you’ll find five sales tools that are readily available, affordable, and nearly guaranteed to improve your selling abilities.

Marketing Automation

Marketing automation improves your selling abilities from two directions. First, it delivers more highly qualified prospects to you, making conversions easier. Second, it helps keep low quality prospects from making it to your door, letting you focus your efforts on prospects who are ready to buy. There are literally hundreds of different marketing automation programs available, and some of them are free or extremely low cost. They allow you to nurture en masse, and only move leads into the sales funnel when they’re “hot.”

Customer Relationship Management

Often coupled with marketing automation, CRM makes it easy to keep track of prospects and your interactions with them. When you’re dealing with a large volume of prospects, it’s almost impossible to keep all the details straight. However, when you speak to a prospect, nothing will turn them off faster than feeling forgotten or neglected. CRM lets you keep all relevant information right at your fingertips. You can track all interactions with a lead, from marketing, through sales and support.

Mirror, Mirror

Software can help put high quality leads in front of you, but it’s up to you to make the sale. That’s where your sales pitch comes into play. Practicing your pitch in front of a mirror allows you to see what your leads are seeing. Are you too expressive, or do you gesture too much? A mirror will allow you to examine your expression and movements, and dial them in to the perfect level. Practicing in front of a mirror will also help you feel more comfortable and confident when delivering your sales pitch. Hesitancy or discomfort can be perceived as doubt, and doubt will drive leads away.

Audio Recorder

Whether it’s on the phone or in person, your voice is an incredibly important part of your selling abilities. An audio recorder can help you develop the right tone and cadence for talking to leads. Listening to your voice can tell you if you’re speaking too fast, mumbling, or throwing “ums” and “ahs” into your speech. When you speak to prospects and leads, your voice should have the right balance of enthusiasm, confidence, and believability. With an inexpensive audio recorder, you can practice all of those qualities until you have them perfected.

Curiosity

Not so much a sales tool as it is a mindset, curiosity is one of the greatest assets of a salesperson. You need to be curious about your prospects’ needs and interests, and curious about how you can help address them. When sales go well, you need to be curious about what went right, so you can repeat the same process. When sales go poorly, you need to be curious about what went wrong so you can fix those things. In general, curiosity can be one of the most powerful sales tools you have.

The Right Tools for the Job

Whether you’re a seasoned professional, or a first-time salesperson, there are tools that can immediately start improving your selling abilities. Finding the perfect tools for your situation may take some trial and error, but they are out there. While it’s not mentioned in this list, one tool you should always have with you is perseverance. The only way to fail as a salesperson is to stop trying to improve your selling abilities.