21 Best Sales Tips And Tricks You Must Master

Science-backed sales tips and tricks you need to master.

When it comes to selling your products, you will agree with us that there are countless approaches that you can adopt. But not all approaches help you close deals.

Undoubtedly, having the right personal skills, communication, and experience indeed make things better. But being able to convert and close deals consistently requires more than just skills and knowledge.

There are several psychological and scientific factors that impact the buyer’s journey. In this article, we will explore the best sales tips and tricks that will help you emerge as the top sales performer. 

Get Started With Science-Based Selling

Don’t worry; excelling at science-based selling is no rocket science. It is a sales technique based on the right mix of neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics. Science-based selling uses tried-and-tested scientific methods that help optimize your selling process. 

The unique part of science-based selling is that instead of focusing on the salespeople, it pays attention to the buyer. The approach focuses on estimating what is happening inside the buyers’ brains. This helps you understand how their minds can be influenced. 

Instead, we will talk about scientifically proven selling techniques that will boost your chances of winning and closing the deals. 

Best Sales Tips And Tricks

1. Make 6 Attempts To Reach Leads

So, how many times do you contact your leads before giving up? Most salespeople only call once or twice. When results don’t come as intended, they stop.

This is where most salespeople go wrong. A recent study conducted by Velocify found that making six attempts is essential. When you attempt to contact your leads six times, you can dramatically improve the success rate.

2. Respond To Leads Within 5 Minutes

If you take more than 5 minutes to contact your leads, this is where you are going wrong. 

Science has revealed that buyers are more likely to buy from you when you respond to their initial inquiry quickly. Their chances of getting converted drop dramatically with a delay of every minute. 

We have seen many salespeople take their own sweet time before responding to a lead, which impacts their success. 

A recent study revealed that you are 21 times more likely to qualify a lead if you contact them within 5 minutes. 

3. The Best Day To Contact The Leads

When should you contact your leads? The best weekdays are Wednesdays and Thursdays. 

You don’t have to schedule your calls based on when you have time; instead, you should focus on your buyers’ availability. 

The research revealed that buyers are more responsive on certain days – no points for guessing that Mondays are busier. But no, calling on Tuesdays is not a good idea either. 

Although the best calling times differ from one industry to another, data reveals that the best times include the days between the midweek and the weekend. 

Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days to contact leads overall.

4. The Best Time

Next up, what is the best time to contact leads?

You are more likely to get a positive response from your leads if you call them at a time convenient to them. The early mornings and the late working day are fine. 

The exact calling time varies from one industry to the other, but it is proven that the best times to call are between 8 am and 9 am and between 4 pm and 5 pm.

5. Start With A Bang

This is one of the best sales tips and tricks. Always make your first impression count. A study was conducted to find out how waiters can increase their room service tips in hotels. It was found that simple things could increase their tips considerably. All they need to do is start the interaction with a positive comment. 

For instance, when hotel guests open their door, waiters could go with a simple good morning and provide the weather forecast for the day. Just this one small exercise could increase their tips by 27%. 

So, what does this mean for you? Never start a pitch or a sales meeting on the wrong note. Don’t talk about bad weather, being busy, or being stuck in traffic. Always begin with a positive comment – great weather, favorite sports, and fun plans. This will provide the required positivity and will help you put the best foot forward.

6. Avoid Talking Bad Things About The Competition

This is one common mistake most salespeople are guilty of making. 

Demoting your competitors doesn’t provide you with an edge over them but leads to Spontaneous Trait Transference. The brain works such that it associates the negativity and gossip with the person who is talking. So, if you put the wrong light on your competitors, things could turn ugly. Your target customers can associate the negative traits with you. 

This is the least that you want to happen.

7. Social Media To The Rescue

Contrary to what traditional bosses might say, social media can help you sell. A study conducted by Jim Keenan, a social media expert, found that 78.6% of sales professionals using social media performed better than those who didn’t.

If your boss schools you to stop using social media next time, it is time to change their opinion.

 8. Offer More Than One Option

You might not have seen this coming, but offering more than one option to your buyers can boost your success rate considerably. This is one of those sales tips and tricks no one will tell you about.

A study conducted by Daniel Mochon and published in the Journal of Consumer Research backs up this claim reasonably. When Daniel presented a single DVD player, only 10% purchased. However, when he introduced a second DVD player, he was able to bring up the sales by 66%. 

9. Smile More

If your personality is a bit cold, we recommend you smile more. 

People are more likely to agree with you when they find you warm and approachable. Smiling makes you appear warmer, and when people see you as friendly, they are more likely to trust you and go with the proposed ideas.

10. Mirror Your Buyers

Also known as mirroring, this technique can boost your success rate as a salesperson considerably. A study conducted in 2009 revealed that when people were asked to negotiate with each other, they could reach an agreement 67% of the time by mirroring the way their partners speak and position themselves. On the other hand, the people who didn’t do this could reach an agreement only 12.5% of the time. 

Another study conducted on 100 customers in 2011 came up with a similar conclusion. The study found that people bought more products when the retail salespeople mirrored the behavior of their customers. 

11. Use Your Body

This is another one of the most effective sales tips and tricks. Do not just persuade people based on verbal communication, but also use your body language to communicate. It is a useful sales tip if you are talking with your lead face-to-face. A study revealed that salespeople were able to increase their sales number by 56% using body language, just after one training.

12. Set The Agenda And Keep The Conversation In Control

When you communicate with your leads, ensure that it is two-way communication. This means that you must not be the sole speaker, but the other party should be interested in listening and replying. 

Thus, the best practice is to clear your agenda and ask the prospects if they are okay with it. This way, you can keep your call on track and ensure that you accomplish what you wish to achieve. 

It also makes the customers feel that they are in control of the conversation. A sample conversation could go something like this: “I’m glad that we can connect today. I want to go over XYZ and be happy to answer all the questions you have. Is this something you would be interested in?”

13. Use Pretty Labels

Do you know the good thing about labels? Once you have assigned them to someone, like referring to someone as highly intelligent, it compels them to live up to that label. 

This is what was concluded by a recent study conducted on donors. The fundraising study referred to the average donors as the highest donors. It had such a strong influence that donors exceeded their average amount. 

The conclusion – people tend to live up to the label assigned to them. 

So, when you are with a customer, please provide them with suitable labels. But make sure that you don’t go overboard. Keep it practical and realistic. Don’t say anything manipulative, fake, or inauthentic. 

For example, you can refer to your client as the best of customers you have ever had, or something like you are such a pleasure to do business with. Such compliments will positively impact the customer, and they will try harder to continue being your business partner.

14. Stand Up

When you are selling something, you should sound enthusiastic about it. You should make the other person feel that you are selling the best thing, and they will lose something if they don’t have it already.

This can be better achieved by standing up while doing sales calls. Speaking from personal experience, doing sales calls from a cubicle or conference room makes me feel restricted, and I can express my views better when I am pacing around.

15. Enjoy The Competitive Nature Of Sales

Here is the next on this list of the best sales tips and tricks.

Who doesn’t want to win as many sales as possible? You are not alone.

Irrespective of how complicated the process is, you must enjoy the competitive nature of sales and see it not only as a job but as a game too. This is also the reason that salespeople use the term winning a deal. A study conducted on 182 salespeople in 2003 found that competitiveness helped salespeople perform better and outperform their peers.

16. Be An Ambivert

Introverts often hear that extroverts make the best salespeople. But is this true? Not exactly. 

Ambiverts make the best salespeople and close more leads. 

Who is an ambivert? An ambivert is someone who has the qualities of both an introvert and an extrovert. This means that they enjoy being around others as much as they love their alone time. If you are an ambivert, you are in luck. A study conducted on 300 sales professionals found that people with qualities of both an introvert and an extrovert tend to perform better in ales. On average, ambivert salespeople were able to garner 32% more revenue than highly extroverted salespeople.

17. Act Like A Doctor

Do your buyers engage in in-depth, hearty talks with you? Do they open up to you?

If not, try acting like a doctor so they can share their insights with you and help you assist better. And this could work to your benefit.

As humans, we all love talking with people interested in our lives, appreciate us opening up to them, and ask insightful questions. This is what you should do. Harvard researchers studied the functioning of our brains when we talk about our favorite subject with someone. They found that when we talk about something that interests us, it gives us pleasure. Such activity also improves the perception of the people we are talking to. 

Doctors are considered trustworthy and respected because they ask you questions that they wouldn’t usually answer to others. 

The bottom line – be thoughtful while talking to your customers. Talk about their pain points, and listen to them.

18. Be Confident

So, how do people describe you? Do they consider you as confident?

Studies have shown that when you communicate confidently, it adds more weight to what you say. And do you know the funniest thing about confidence? You can fake it even if you do not feel it. 

All you need to do is tweak your body language so that it reflects confidence. As you do that, you can trick your mind, and you will start feeling confident as you act. 

19. Focus On Benefits, Not The Features

So, what’s more important? Benefits or features? We say – benefits, without a second thought. 

A lot many companies and salespeople think that their products sell because of the fantastic features. Sadly, that’s just not the case. 

A study conducted by Harvard Business School found that products sell because of the benefits they offer, and not because of the features they carry. 

20. Call From A Local Number

So, what number do you use to call your prospective customers?

If the number used by you is a toll-free number, long-distance number, or is blocked, then the chances are high that your leads will not receive your call. Recent research revealed that buyers are 300% more likely to receive your call if they identify your area code. 

21. End On A Positive Note

This brings us to the end of this list of sales tips and tricks, but this is the most effective one.

Always end your conversation with the prospective customer on a high note. Why do you ask? Let’s take the help of a study. Although gross, it explains the message correctly. 

Okay, let’s admit, colonoscopies are unpleasant, and doctors know that. So, they wanted to do something that can provide colonoscopy with a bit better background. For starters, colonoscopy is just a few minutes long procedure, but it is super uncomfortable. 

So, doctors thought of adding an extra minute at the end of the pain-free procedure to ensure that people remembered the entire process as pleasant. 

To put it in other words, you should always end things on a positive note, even if it takes a bit longer than expected. Gift them a small perk, pay them a compliment – just do anything that makes them feel better. 

Sales Mistakes To Avoid

Sales is an art. You need to be talented and skilled to perform the best as a salesperson. However, there are a few mistakes that we all are guilty of making. 

Here is a list of the most common mistakes that you should avoid:

1. Talking Too Much

Unknowingly, you end up speaking a lot when you want to sell something. After all, you have got so much to talk about – from its features to benefits and whatnot.

But stop. Although the information you might impart is crucial, it might not be all that your customer wants to know. Besides, it makes you look pushy. And pushy salespeople don’t go far; only the considerate ones go ahead.

And let’s admit, you are not the only one selling. Thus, make sure you are attentive to the needs of your customers. According to the general rule of thumb, your listening to talking ratio should be 3:2. Listen more, and talk less. 

2. Not Focusing On The Solution

Your product might have 21 outstanding features that no other product in the industry has, but how does that matter for the customer? The only thing that matters is the pain point that it is solving. 

Instead of talking in length about all the bells and whistles of your product, focus on the benefits that your products offer and how they will prove beneficial for the users.

3. Not Focusing On the Value

If you want long-term customers who stick with you through thick and thin, stop luring your leads with the price. Offering out of the box discounts and offers will only attract bargain hunters. And do you know what the worst is? These customers will buy from you but readily go to others when they offer more significant discounts. 

Undoubtedly, this is not what you want. So, focus on the value that your product offers. Although the price is still a decisive factor for many, don’t just attract people for the low price, but for the invincible benefits, your product offers. 

4. Arguing With Potential Customers

We get that some customers could be unreasonable. They might be rude and not well-behaved. But still, do not let this lose your cool. You might lose your temper and start defending the truth, but just avoid this. 

Arguing with potential customers will only put you in a tough spot. You will lose the sale every single time. When you find yourself stuck in such a situation, it is always wise to change the topic. If not, say something along the lines of – “I know where you are coming from, but…”, and then ask for more information, paraphrase their sentences, but never argue. 

5. Making False Promises

While you might feel tempted to overpromise to close a deal, it is just as dangerous as underdelivering. Don’t ever make false promises. It is only the wrong way to start any relationship. 

The best way to win the confidence of your prospects is to offer them a free trial. You can choose to underpromise and then overdeliver. This way, you set the expectations low and then exceed them. It leaves a positive impression on the prospective customer, and they end up buying your products and services. 

The Wrap Up

Undoubtedly, the competition in the sales industry is at an all-time high. There is a neck-and-neck competition, and each sales professional is trying their best to outperform their peers. 

However, the good news is that many salespeople are still relying on outdated methods and techniques to increase their sales. So, use this gap to your advantage. Employ the proven sales tips and tricks discussed in this article and increase your sales manifold. 

What are your views on this? Did we miss anything important that you think deserves mention here? Please share with us in the comments below.