Have you been having trouble increasing your sales lately? Have you tried a number of new techniques and it still seems like nothing is helping? SellingPower’s Jeff Cochran has developed a systematic approach that will deliver results in three steps.

Be Prepared

“There is no doubt that preparation is seen as cumbersome; however, not only is there generally a worthwhile return on the time invested, but also there are ways to do it better and faster,” says Cochran. How is this accomplished? Start with reviewing which strategies you’ve used in the past, especially the ineffective techniques. Ask yourself what you can learn from your mistakes. What do you need to change? What did your previous approach lack? Then, research the prospect’s needs. Do you have a product or service that can fill a need? If you do, great. If not, don’t waste time on a pitch. Lastly, think about what you can offer the prospect. For example, if you can’t lower the price for them, maybe you can sweeten the deal in other ways, like with less expensive add-ons.

Probe

Once you’re in the meeting, you need to ask useful questions. The best questions are the product of good listening and body language-​reading skills. Does your client appear hesitant to commit to a sale? You need to figure out what is causing that hesitancy. Is it the cost? Are they not sure it’s a good fit? Are they considering putting off problem solving until later? Ask the questions that will get you these answers and you can help them gain the confidence they need to agree to a sale. Better yet, if you’re asking probing questions and let them do most of the talking, they’ll be less likely to feel pressured into spending money.

What’s the last step? You’ll have to read the last bit of Cochran’s article to find out!