If you want to close more sales, you need to ask yourself these questions:

How do you approach selling? Is it something you dread or something you love doing?

The answer to these questions can be negative or positive depending on your outlook before you ever make your pitch. Here, I will cover 3 ways to improve your close ratio that have nothing to do with the product you are selling and everything to do with your attitude toward selling that product.

Attitude Trait 1: Belief

Do you begin your day thinking you need to make more sales or thinking that there are a ton of people out there that need your product or service? Everyone we coach on selling is trained to recognize that you are not selling a product as much as you are selling a result. The true value of what you offer is determined by how much someone realizes that they need what you have to offer.  It’s easier to get someone to believe in you if you believe in yourself. The selling process should be 50% educational on the need you fill, 40% educational on why you are the best person to fill that need, and 10% based on the call to action. At the end of your pitch, the person needs to know that they are making a conscious decision not to reap the benefits of what you have to offer.  

Best quote I have heard illustrating this: “I can’t sell you Jesus, He either lives in your heart or He doesn’t.” — Don Draper (Mad Men)

Attitude Trait 2: You don’t need to close every sell (selling from behind).

Not everyone will need your product, and this is nothing to get discouraged about. Sometimes, sales people get so desperate for a sale that they either push too hard for a close or come across as if they care more about the person’s money than the person they are selling to. I’ve been desperate for a sale before. I know what it feels like when this sale determines if you have enough money to pay for baby food or not. The key is sticking to your sales process. When you sell from behind, the desperation always comes across in your pitch. You start giving away the world, which undercuts the value of what you are offering.  If what you have to offer is truly valuable to the buyer, then your product or service will sell itself.   

Best quote I have heard illustrating this: “Crack dealers don’t sell crack, they offer crack.” — Chris Rock

Attitude Trait 3: Focus on building relationships, not a customer base.

I often find that my best customers come from referrals from my best customers or people I have made friends with over the years. I still make sales calls and do some cold calling, but I spend much more time cultivating my relationships than I do any other area of my business. Because time is the most valuable resource anyone can give you, be sure that you are adding value to the time people spend on you.

Best quote I have heard illustrating this: “A mirror reflects a man’s face, but what he is really like is shown in the kinds of friends he chooses.” Proverbs 27:19

I hope you recognize a pattern here that selling is less about money and all about how valuable you, your product and your expertise are to your potential clients. Hopefully, these techniques make selling a whole lot less stressful and scary and can give you confidence in yourself and what you have to offer. Please let me know what you think in the comments section and feel free to share any additional tips you want to add.