Listen, don’t talk. “Top salespeople dominate the listening. When the customer is talking, the sale is moving forward,” says Tracy.

Do your homework. “It amazes me how unprepared many salespeople are. They haven’t studied the prospect at all. That’s why there are so few professionals in selling who make it to the top — they do the homework.”

The secret to closing is... “Don’t. Top sales- people make recommendations, they don’t close. They explain why the recommendation is the customer’s best choice in solving his problems: ‘Based on what you have told me, here is my recommendation, for these reasons.’”

—