How to prospect in sales and marketing.

Salespeople are no strangers to daily cold calls, emails, presentations and client meetings. These rituals have been fully ingrained by doing all of these things in practice during company training and sales conferences.

The rules and mechanics are mostly universal, but the execution differs from person to person, garnering different results. Gaining a winning sales strategy is not a birthright, it is a skill. It’s what salespeople do beyond selling that makes a difference in closing a deal. It’s the fixed behaviors and established routines of a salesperson that lay the foundation of their successful work ethic and business strategy.

Study the product extensively: You can’t sell a product if you don’t know how it works, so study the product extensively. Know it inside and out–everything from its flaws to knowing how competing products compare. It’s imperative to believe in the capacity of the product and how it will provide solutions to real-life problems and improve the customer’s well-being.

Ask questions before making a proposal: Customers are empowered, but often guarded consumers. Express that you’re after their best interests through effective listening, which involves:

• Never interrupting a client while they’re speaking

• Responding appropriately

• Clarifying their questions before giving a reply

Once you have enough information and understand what the customer needs, it’s easier to come up with questions specific to their situation, helping them feel like they’re experiencing more of a personal interaction rather than something that’s scripted. Uphold integrity and honesty in every sale: Be honest about the product and never boast. Customers don’t want to hear the best things about your product or your company, they’ll tune you out. Just focus on the product or service and the benefits that it provides that makes it worthy of a sale. Research customers before making a call: Having more information about a prospect can better prepare you for a call or compose the right kind of message. Check out their LinkedIn profiles, Twitter or Facebook accounts to get ideas on how to best engage your prospect. How to Close a Sale While there is an underlying formula behind the process of closing a sale, it’s as much an art form as it is a scientific process. We’re going to examine some of the top sales closing techniques, the science behind them, and the best closing questions to get your prospect to say yes.

12 Best Sales Closing Techniques to Win (Almost) Every Sale:

1. The Assumptive Close: The Assumptive Close is based on the concept that you firmly believe you will make this sale from the moment you put effort into it. The language you use throughout would indicate that you believe the sale is a “done deal.” The key is checking frequently on your prospect, gauging their level of interest, handling objections, and determining if they’re on the same page as you.

Why this works: Your confidence and positive thinking are contagious and make the prospect think the answer should be as obvious to them as it is to you. When it works best: When you’re working with familiar leads, and know the product is a perfect fit for the prospect’s needs.

When not to use it: When you have no relationship with your prospect, and hear repeated feedback that the solution doesn’t make sense for them.

2. The Now or Never Close: Offer your prospect something that they can only get if they commit within a certain period of time (including today). This can include:

• This is the last [product] we have remaining

• Anyone who commits today gets a 15% discount

• If you sign up today, you can take priority in the implementation queue

• This price is only for a limited time until [date]

Why this works: The prospect now feels that they are losing out on something, so if they are probably going to say yes eventually, it just makes sense to do it now. When it works best: When you have the freedom to offer discounts, and you’re dealing with people whose main objection is that they don’t have time to decide now.

When not to use it: When the prospect has made it clear your product would never implement at their company, or you can’t offer a significant incentive.

3. The Takeaway Close: This concept is simple: if you’ve already laid the benefits on them, and they don’t seem interested in certain aspects, take them off the table. Offer cost savings by removing product features that they might not need, and see if they’re more inclined to take the offer.

Why this works: Many people object simply because of the price. If you can counter that objection by removing things they don’t need, everybody wins.

When it works best: When your platform is multi-tiered, and the prospect has made it clear that they have no use for certain features. When not to use it: When the prospect doesn’t seem to be objecting to the price.

4. The Hard Close: Also known as the “Nothing to Lose Close,” this tactic involves you letting your potential customer become very aware of the fact that you are selling to them. You ask for firm commitments, when you can sign contracts, when you can expect to close the deal, when you can set up implementation—and anything else that gets them to actually sign now.

Why this works: Making what you want clear helps the person feel a little more at ease, and though they may not say yes, at least they will give you a firm answer so you no longer have to spend time following up. When it works best: When you know you won’t be getting the yes, and have no other options. When not to use it: When you are still in the early stages of following up with your leads.