None of your customers do business with you because you occasionally buy them a free meal, entertain them for an afternoon, or make a great presentation. They buy from you because they have a problem, and you have the solution.

The fact is, sales success is difficult to achieve. But there’s a lot of satisfaction in learning to accomplish things that have a high degree of difficulty.

Of course, you need to know how the decision will be made. Of course, it's valuable (but not necessary) to know what the budget will be. But anybody can ask those questions. You need to ask the questions that nobody else can ask.

It's about identifying and understanding what needs to be done, empowering others to do the work they're entrusted to do, and owning the outcome regardless of whether it's good or bad.

Sales is a results-oriented game, so that's usually where you focus. It’s easy to assume that if you set a goal and accomplish it, then the steps you took to achieve it were right. That's a poor assumption.

It's a common assumption that your company knows exactly what it needs to do in order to deliver results and outcomes for the customers you serve. More often than not, that's just not the case.

If we shift our perspective and think of lost sales as opportunities to learn and adapt, we have much more to gain. I recommend asking yourself these questions to learn from “no.”

When challenges arise, it’s easy to get defensive and complain, but when the going gets tough, the tough get going. The tough view obstacles as opportunities. Sometimes we all need an attitude adjustment.

Stop worrying about the budget and start talking about solutions to problems that were previously impossible to solve.

No matter what you do, or how much effort you exert, in the end, it is your prospect’s decision. You must remove your ego from the sales process and realize there is a limit to what you can do.

You have to do the hard work up front to understand the challenges your customers face, and how you’re uniquely positioned to help them. What do you bring to the table that nobody else does?

I’ve written a lot about the necessity of a positive attitude for success. There just isn’t any way around it. You’ve got to build one, then work your tail off to maintain it.

Your prospect doesn’t care about your product. What they care about is how that product is going to help them achieve their goals– as specifically as possible.

Prospecting methods have evolved over time and continue to differ across industries, but the principle remains: the mode doesn’t matter as much as the message.

You probably don’t ask your prospects directly on sales calls, “Can we get vulnerable for a minute?” But in reality, that is what you’re requesting. Vulnerability.

Maybe you have a verbal commitment. Maybe you’ve followed up a few times. Maybe you’re considering moving on to a new prospect because you just can’t seem to get through. It seems they’re just not that interested.

The key to getting home is not a frantic push. It’s patience, and the confidence that you’re doing the right things with the right people to accomplish your goals.

Keep these philosophies in mind on your next prospecting call and during every interaction you have…

Successful sales prospecting starts with understanding your unique value proposition.

The strongest connections I’ve ever created have all started as a result of me giving in some way to the other person FIRST.