Establish rapport first

Being excited and motivated about sales, salespeople often want potential clients to know all of the wonderful features, facts and benefits about their company, products and services. This leads many salespeople into presentation mode, or as some refer to it, "pitch mode," when instead, they should launch into a thorough Q&A session that will help them build rapport and gain the potential client's respect.

Leave barraging the client with facts and figures to your competitors. Smart salespeople will ask questions so they can better understand potential client needs. The clients will tell you how they perceive their situation by answering your questions.

After listening, sales reps can then use the client's terms and tone of voice to represent their products or services, and use the client's words to explain how you and your company can best meet their overall needs and objectives.