The One Strategy Guaranteed to Close More Sales: 5 Techniques to Help You Master It

Copyrighted by Meridith Powell

This morning I took a tennis lesson; I was strugglingwith my volleys and wanted a little coaching on how to be a little more aggressive at the net. I only started playing tennis a few years ago, so I find a lesson once aweek really makes a difference. And the investment has been paying off, as my game and my standings have greatly improved in the last year.

In fact, I have this entire process I use to work on my tennis game. I strike abalance between playing amatch, taking lessons, and working on the ballmachine. I find live play shows how I am doing under pressure, the lessons improve my technique, and the ball machine helps me groove my strokes. I have done the same thing for my golf game foryears.

So I was thinking this week as I was working on bothof my games, how come we don’tdo this in our professional lives? Set up a process to improve ourskills, practice to groove ourstrokes, and then put ourselves in live play to see how we do under pressure? Well, letme take thatback; we do the live play, but rarely ifever, do we do whatwe need to do to get better at that live play.

Think aboutyour life, whether it is sports, music, painting, or woodworking – whatever your passions, you practice, right? You invest the time to getbetter at what you’re doing to improve, progress, and learn to master the hobby or the skill.

Well, ifyou want to close more sales, you need to take this same concept to yoursales game. You need to invest the time in improving your technique and practice your craftso you can groove your strokes. The best way to do that is role-playing. Now, stop it; I can hear you as I am writing this blog. I can hear you moaning, groaning, and making faces because you hate role-playing.

Listen, I get it, but take aminute and think, do you really love to practice when it comes to your hobbies orsports? No, butyou do it anyway because youwant to get better. I think thatrole-playing in sales is one of the most effective strategies you can invest time in, and it is forsure one that is guaranteed to helpyou close more sales.

Techniques To Help You Master The Role Play

1. Create The Time

Set aside thirty minutes, maybe an hour every week, to role play. I know you don’t think you have thirty minutes, but investing time like this willpay dividends. So beproactiveand set asidethe time.

2. Design The Scenarios

Choose good live situations where you want to get in the door with a customer or a lost sale. But choose the role-play scenarios that are as close to real-life as possible. That puts you in situations that, when you practice them and get feedback on them, will help you maketrueprogress.

3. Choose The Right Coaches

Every role-play should have a customer, a sales professional, one coach, and a few people to observe. Choose the right people to role play with. Choose the team members that will take this seriously, those that want to grow and improve, and those that will be honest and open about what you are doing well and what needs improvement. Find the team members who see the value in working on your skills.

4. Develop The Plan

After every role-play, develop a plan. What have you learned, what will you change, and what will you continue to do that is working? What can you take from the roleplay to the live play and integrate it into your live sales play?

5. Reward and Recognize

Reward yourself and the team. So few sales professionals role play and even less do it consistently, so reward yourselves. Do something nice for your teammates who joined you, and celebrate your wins. ~Meridith Powell

Meridith Elliott Powell, Business GrowthExpert

Voted one of the Top 15 Business Growth Experts to watch by Currency Fair, a Top Sales Experts To Follow by LinkedIn, and Top 41 Motivational Sales Speakers. Meridith has a cutting-edge message, rooted in life examples and real-world knowledge. She is the author of six books, including “Cut Through The Excuses – Send , and her latest “Thrive: Strategies To Turn Uncer