Key Terms
- Sales Tips
- Actionable strategies and techniques that help salespeople close more deals and improve conversion rates.
- Close Rate
- The percentage of sales opportunities that result in a completed sale or signed contract.
- Sales Discovery
- The process of learning about a prospect’s needs, challenges, and goals through strategic questioning.
- Loss Aversion
- A psychological principle where people prefer avoiding losses over acquiring equivalent gains.
- Social Proof
- The psychological tendency to follow the actions of others when making decisions.
- Reciprocity
- The social norm where people feel obligated to return favors or kindness they receive.
These 50 science-backed sales tips are based on research studies, psychological principles, and cognitive biases. Each sales tip provides actionable strategies to boost your conversion rates.
What Sales Mindset Tips Improve Performance?
Set specific goals, radiate confidence, show genuine enthusiasm, and persist through multiple rejections.
Why Should Salespeople Set Specific Goals?
Goals define your vision, provide measurable metrics, and serve as powerful motivators for sales success.
Setting sales goals does several things simultaneously. Goals concretely define your vision. They give you metrics to measure with data to see if you’re progressing. And they serve as powerful motivators.
For example, do you want to increase your close rate to 25 percent by next year? The more specific your sales goals, the better your results.
How Does Confidence Affect Sales Results?
Higher confidence makes prospects trust you, like you, and helps you bounce back from objections.
Confidence is your best friend when trying to land a sale. Practice power poses. Repeat positive self-affirmations. Make eye contact. Shake hands firmly. Keep great posture.
Why Is Enthusiasm Important in Sales?
If you seem genuinely excited about your product, prospects become much more likely to buy it.
If you can’t get excited about the product or industry, at least get excited about the results. Show that you love helping clients improve and bring energy to every sales interaction.
How Many Times Should Salespeople Follow Up?
80% of prospects say “no” 4 times before saying “yes,” but average salespeople only reach out twice.
What Research Shows
According to Marketing Donut research, 80% of prospects say “no” 4 times before they say “yes.” Meanwhile, HubSpot data shows the average salesperson only reaches out twice.
Don’t give up after hearing “no.” Persistence is one of the most important sales tips. Sometimes just one or two extra follow-ups keeps the sales process moving forward.
How Does Response Time Affect Sales Success?
35-50% of all sales go to the vendor who responds first. Responding within 5 minutes puts you ahead of 93%.
What Research Shows
One study found that 35-50% of all sales go to the vendor who responds first. If you respond within 5 minutes, you’ll be part of just 7% of companies.
Speed is one of the most powerful sales tips. Responding fast shows professionalism and separates you from competitors. This single sales tip can dramatically increase your close rate.
How Can Salespeople Stand Out From Competitors?
Show what makes you unique and take a nontraditional approach instead of blending with other vendors.
Your prospects have likely heard from dozens of salespeople. If you want to close the deal, you must stand out. Show what makes your approach and your company unique in the market.
Why Is Listening the Most Important Sales Skill?
69% of buyers want salespeople to listen to their needs. Listening reveals how to tailor your approach.
You can’t use the same sales strategy on everyone and expect it to work. You need to tailor your approach to each individual. Listening is the only way to learn who you’re working with.
According to HubSpot research, 69% of buyers want salespeople to listen to their needs. On top of that, listening shows interest and builds trust.
What Questions Should Salespeople Ask?
Use open-ended questions that stimulate extended answers rather than simple yes or no responses.
What Research Shows
According to Boomerang research, emails with 1-3 questions are 50% more likely to get a response. Gong.io data shows asking 11+ questions during a call can increase sales by 74%.
Ask questions like “What is your sales process like?” or “How do you feel about your current provider?” These open-ended questions reveal valuable information for your sales approach.
How Does Pausing Help Close Sales?
Pausing conveys confidence and creates mild awkwardness that prospects fill by talking more.
Pausing is a powerful rhetorical technique that conveys confidence. The longer you pause, the more prospects talk. The more they talk, the more you learn about them.
Why Does Lead Quality Matter More Than Quantity?
Companies using lead scoring systems see 20% more conversions by filtering out uninterested prospects.
If you have a system that filters out uninterested parties and gives you only interested parties, your success rate will be much higher. According to McKinsey research, companies using lead scoring systems see 20% more conversions.
What Is the ROI of CRM Software?
The average ROI of a CRM is 871% according to Nucleus Research. Use your CRM consistently.
According to a Nucleus Research report, the average ROI of a CRM is about 871%. Data is incredibly important for sales success. Use your customer relationship management platform consistently.
What Psychology Techniques Improve Sales?
Use scarcity, urgency, reciprocity, social proof, and loss aversion to trigger buying decisions.
Why Is “Because” Such a Powerful Word in Sales?
People are much easier to persuade once you give them a reason—even if the reason isn’t compelling.
One fascinating study showed that if you ask someone to cut in line, they’re much more likely to let you if you add “because” followed by almost any excuse. Use this in sales by telling prospects why they should take action.
How Does the Ambiguity Effect Influence Buyers?
People strongly prefer certain odds over uncertain ones. Show exact savings and success rates.
Thanks to the ambiguity effect, people crave certainty. Let prospects know how much the average person saves or improves when using your product. Give money-back guarantees to make them feel confident about outcomes.
Why Is Scarcity Effective in Sales?
People take action faster when they feel limited quantities are available. Announce limited runs.
Convey scarcity by announcing a limited run or limited number of beta users. This psychological trigger moves prospects closer to making a buying decision.
How Do You Create Urgency in Sales?
42% of salespeople cite creating urgency as their biggest challenge. Use deadlines and time limits.
According to HubSpot research, 42% of salespeople cite creating urgency as their biggest challenge. Ask prospects: if they don’t act now, will they miss out? Will deals expire?
What Is Reciprocity in Sales?
People feel obligated to return kindness. Do something nice for prospects to increase close rates.
Thanks to reciprocity, people like to repay favors. If you do something nice for your prospect—dinner, a gift basket, or even a genuine compliment—they’ll be more likely to help you with a sale.
How Does Loss Aversion Drive Sales?
People hate losing things more than they love gaining things. FOMO really works in sales.
Stoke loss aversion in your prospects and they’ll be more likely to finalize the sale. What will people lose if they continue with competitors? Will deals expire or become worse?
How Should Salespeople Handle Objections?
Anticipate objections, prevent them from arising, and never get defensive when they come up.
Sooner or later, you’ll face sales objections—counterpoints and limitations that prevent people from closing. You need a plan to deal with these. Admit they exist and don’t be surprised when they come up.
The best course of action is to understand which objections are truly deal-killers and whether these objections are relevant to each prospect. If a prospect isn’t a good fit, move on.
Anticipate objections and prevent them from arising. Do people commonly worry about price? Get ahead by explaining cost-efficiency. If an objection catches you off guard, don’t get defensive. Be realistic and adopt a helpful persona.
What Communication Channels Work Best for Sales?
86% of professionals prefer email. Cold email ROI is twice as high as cold call ROI.
According to HubSpot data, 86% of business professionals prefer email as a communication medium. The ROI of cold emails is twice as high as cold calls.
Know your audience. Know your message. Choose the right channel for the right occasion. Different channels have different strengths for different sales situations.
Why Should Salespeople Use Stories and Metaphors?
Humans prefer following narratives with characters over evaluating facts at face value.
As humans, we love narratives, stories, and metaphors. We prefer to follow along with characters through a beginning, middle, and end rather than evaluating factual statements. Use more metaphors and illustrative language in your sales process.
What Are the Best Closing Techniques in Sales?
Time the close correctly, assume the sale will happen, and reduce pressure to build prospect trust.
What Is the “Foot in the Door” Technique?
Get prospects to agree to something small first, making them more likely to agree to something big.
For example, convince prospects to try a free trial for a week. You’ll be much more likely to sell them on the full product later. Small commitments lead to bigger commitments.
What Is the “Door in the Face” Technique?
Start with something outrageous, then settle on something reasonable that seems like a bargain.
For example, lead with the fact that competing products cost $1,000—but your product only costs $100. The contrast makes your offer seem much more attractive to the prospect.
Why Does Reducing Pressure Increase Sales?
People hate high-pressure environments. Remind prospects they can leave anytime to build trust.
This is called the “but you are free” (BYAF) technique. Saying “but you are free to consult with our competitors” relieves pressure, makes prospects more confident, and builds trust.
How Can Salespeople Improve Productivity?
Cut unnecessary meetings, waste less time on bad prospects, and increase effort on high-value activities.
The secret to better results isn’t working more hours. Employees are 68% less productive when they feel overloaded.
Cut unnecessary meetings. Waste less time on bad prospects. Trim the fat. Increase the effort you spend on activities most likely to generate real sales.
Why Should Salespeople Learn From Peers?
More than half of salespeople who want to improve look for tips from their peers.
According to HubSpot research, more than half of salespeople who want to improve look for tips from peers. Other people tend to compensate for your blind spots. Ask mentors to review your conversations and identify mistakes.
Why Should Salespeople Act as Advisors?
79% of customers prefer salespeople who act as advisors rather than traditional salespeople.
According to Salesforce research, 79% of customers prefer salespeople who act as advisors. Present yourself in a way that demonstrates authority, expertise, and trustworthiness.
People often reject product offers because they see things in terms of “us” versus “them.” The salesperson is just a manipulator trying to get money. You must change this image by serving as an advisor.
Be your prospect’s trusted advisor and genuinely try to help them solve their toughest challenges. Transform from salesperson to valuable resource.
Frequently Asked Questions About Sales Tips
Jayson is a long-time columnist for Forbes, Entrepreneur, BusinessInsider, Inc.com, and various other major media publications, where he has authored over 1,000 articles since 2012, covering technology, marketing, and entrepreneurship. He keynoted the 2013 MarketingProfs University, and won the “Entrepreneur Blogger of the Year” award in 2015 from the Oxford Center for Entrepreneurs. In 2010, he founded a marketing agency that appeared on the Inc. 5000 before selling it in January of 2019, and he is now the CEO of EmailAnalytics and OutreachBloom.
