Here are the 10 best tips for successful selling.

I based these tips on my 30+ years of selling and working with hundreds of organizations and thousands of salespeople.

In the end, it comes down to these ten:

1. Be consistent

Nothing will create more success than consistently taking one step forward each day.  Schedule time on a regular basis to prospect. Don’t prospect only when you have time or business is bad. Keeping the sales pipeline full requires daily attention.

2. Follow-up quickly

More sales are lost due to salespeople failing to follow up than probably any other thing. Fast follow-up is essential at every phase of the selling process from prospecting to closing the sale.

3. Uncover the outcomes the customer wants

It’s not about your product features. Sales success is about what the customer needs. The sooner you can get the customer to share with you what outcomes they desire, the sooner you can make that the focus. Selling is about how you can help the customer win.

4. Use voicemail prudently

How long should your voicemail be? Voicemail messages shouldn’t be longer than 14 seconds. Be brief, be confident, and most of all, make the message about them. For more great information on this, check out 5 Stupid Voicemail Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.

5. Believe in yourself

If you don’t believe in yourself, how do you expect anyone else to believe in you?  The rule still applies — people buy the salesperson first and the product/service second.

6. State your price with confidence

More discounts are given away because the salesperson doesn’t believe in their own price than due to the demands of the customer. When giving your price, make sure you have solid body language, a strong voice, and good eye contact. After stating your price, remain silent.

7. Know how to use your own time

The most valuable asset you have as a salesperson is not what you sell; it’s your own time.  Far too much time is wasted preparing to sell, thinking about selling, getting ready to sell, etc.   You have one objective — spend as much of your time in direct contact with customers as possible.

8. Don’t spend time with people who aren’t motivated buyers

It might be a prospect who is nothing more than a suspect or someone who is merely easy to talk to, but the issue is the same — wasted effort.   The sooner you qualify the person you’re speaking to, the better off both you and the prospect will be.

9. Accept full responsibility. Never make excuses.

If you want to make excuses, that’s fine, but while you’re at it, go ahead and make another excuse as to why you’re not successful as a salesperson.

10.  Be goal-driven and personally motivated.

Don’t wait for others to motivate you. They can’t.  Only you can motivate yourself, and one of the easiest ways is by setting goals you know you can achieve and allowing your success to propel you to more success.

Choose today to strengthen your selling skills with these sales tips. In all my years of selling, these are the ten tips I return to again and again.