These 21 foolproof sales tips will help you close deals faster and make tons of money

"Higher the risk, higher the payoff. That's just how life works. So go big or go home." —Mia Dand; CEO, Lighthouse3

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"Prepare more questions. Salespeople spend too much time preparing what they want to say to a customer and not enough time thinking of the questions they should ask. The best sales presentations are the ones never given, because the salesperson and the customer are having a discussion around the questions being asked." —Mark Hunter; The Sales Hunter

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"Incorporate video into your sales pitch. Try not to go slide by slide in a monotone fashion. Instead, walk around the room and engage your audience, then interject videos to explain valid points. Consider making a video about how you can help the company you’re pitching and interview multiple team members." —Yaniv Masjedi; VP of marketing, Nextiva

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"Always give a discount to someone who tends to bargain. Customer acquisition cost: a bit higher. Customer ego boost: priceless." —Rohan Ayyar; marketing expert and columnist

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"Use their language, terminology, corporate colors, font, and imagery to truly personalize your message. Never use your corporate deck." —Paul Walker; principal solution engineer, Salesforce

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"Make friends with their friends (read: gatekeepers). Even the busiest decision maker can't resist a personal recommendation." —Rohan Ayyar; marketing expert and columnist

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"Apologize for your mistakes. Make things better. 
Your customers won't remember the mistakes as much as they'll remember what you do next." —Matt Heinz; president,
 Heinz Marketing

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"Make friends with your marketing team! Work with them to establish the definition of a qualified lead. This will ensure that you only get assigned genuine, workable prospects." —Phil Simpson; regional sales manager, Salesforce

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"Certain words and phrases simply have magical powers. The word 'because' is one of them. In a sentence, the conjunctive 'because' triggers the listener's brain to say, 'Oh, the thing I'm going to hear after this word will be a justification for the thing I heard before it,' and the magical way this word works can be a formidable ally in your sales efforts!" —David Priemer; VP of sales, Salesforce

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"Multitasking is
 completely overrated as a skill. In fact, I believe that multitasking is simply an opportunity
 to mess up 
many things simultaneously. The key to
 success in a sales environment overflowing with opportunity 
is rigorous prioritization." —Nick Hedges; CEO and president, Velocify

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"Often times after I sell an initial deal, I ask the customer to a 'thank you' lunch or a coffee date. Once the deal is done, I find that the pressure is off and it’s easier to build rapport and get the customer to open up about long-term goals." —Jessica Medeiros; account executive (SMB), Salesforce

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"For those who 
sell to people
 with different backgrounds, listen more and talk less. Keep asking why till you understand what's really driving change in the business." —Tarun Pant; commercial-account executive, marketing cloud, Salesforce

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"If you can get them to laugh, you'll be in good shape!" —Elizabeth Ostby; account executive, Salesforce

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"When you are busy, don't let 
an email from 
a customer/prospect go hours or days until you respond. Take 15 seconds to acknowledge 
their email and 
let them know that you intend to respond within 'X' timeframe." —Bernard Sullivan; enterprise-account executive, Salesforce

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"Before any conversation, always know what your customer does and how they make money. You will discredit yourself very quickly if you
 sit down with a CEO and don't understand how their business works." —Emily Markenson; account executive (MM), Salesforce

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"Forget lunch or beer. Undergo an active experience with your customer." —Rohan Ayyar; marketing expert and columnist

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"First show the customer where they're saving money and how much. Then cross-sell a product that costs about the same." —Rohan Ayyar; marketing expert and columnist

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"As sales professionals, we should be focused on adding value to our customers at every interaction in advance of
 any ask. For example, instead of pinging your prospects with
 the all-too-familiar 'just checking in' emails or phone calls, why not send them an article or business book you feel they'd enjoy?" —David Priemer; VP of sales, Salesforce

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"Sales performance metrics aren't just for managers — they're for reps, too. Give your team the ability to see their personal real-time quota attainment, sales activity
and efficiency analytics, and their desire to visualize crushing their goal metrics will be 
the only form of gamification they’ll ever need." —William Tyree; chief marketing officer, RingDNA

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"Quick question...How skilled are you at storytelling? Or better yet, when was the last time you told a great story? It could have 
been to a group of friends, to coworkers, to
 your children, to anybody really. Being a good storyteller is the secret-sauce skill that will help you win more friends, influence more prospects, and have a lot more fun in work and life. A well-told personal story breaks down barriers, engages your audience, humanizes you as a speaker, and can take your sales presentations to the next level. So again, the question remains: How skilled are you at storytelling?" —Mark Raymo; SMB strategic-account executive, Salesforce

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"Tech for tech's sake doesn't help you win deals. Tech that makes you faster, smarter, more effective, more efficient — that's the tech you need." —Matt Heinz; president, Heinz Marketing

Matt Weinberger