15 Essential Questions To Achieve Success in Selling

While there are many factors, I have found that much of the long-term success in selling is due more to consistently and persistently following a sales process, a system, and establishing a reputation of being an expert, a trusted advisor to the clients and the marketplace, rather then having any "magic bullets".

In addition, in my experience, much of that sales success begins with having clear answers to some key questions. Some of those are:

1. What do sell? Think not just in-terms of your products and service (tangibles) but also what the perceived value is to your clients (intangibles). Ask yourself, what business are you really in.

2. How strongly do you believe in what you are selling? In other words, would you say sell it to your mother?

3. How does selling what you're selling and for whom you're selling help you live the life you want to live?

4. Who do you want sell to?

5. Where will you find those you want to sell to?

6. How will you get your message to them, of what you have to offer and the associated value? For example, where will you speak? network? How will you reply to the commonly asked question, what do you do?

7. Why should they buy your products/services, and why should they buy from you?

8. How will you get your first meeting?

9. What questions will you ask and what will you say in your first meeting to move the conversation forward?

10. If/when they don't buy from you right away, which is quite often the case specially in B2B sales, how will you stay in touch, maintaining top of mind awareness and building the relationships?

11. How will you get them to try you?

12. Once they do buy, how will you serve them, engage them, move the relationship forward, so they buy from you again?

13. When something goes wrong, which invariably will at one point or another, how will you handle it?

14. How will you ask them to refer you to others?

15. Last but not least, have clarity on what success looks like, how you will know if you're on track as you do the necessary day-to-day work, and how you will know when you have achieved it?

What has lead to your success in selling? What's your best sales tip?