I was talking about sales with a client. He had never made a sales call (his business was new). I started to explain the details of how to handle the conversation when I realized that there were things I needed to know BEFORE talking to someone.

As we talked, we created the following list of the 15 basic and fundamental rules that you should know before picking up the phone.

I am sharing them here with you in the hope that they will help you as much as they did my client.

1. The person with the most confidence during the conversation makes the sale. Are you more confident that you can help your prospect or are you more confident that “it’s not right for them”?

2. There will ALWAYS be objections. Objections are used to help people make decisions and, as Brian Tracy said, “Treat objections as requests for additional information.”

3. When you sell something to someone, it is something you do for him or her, not for them. Selling is not about you being out there to get someone and their money; it’s about you being there to help someone and solve their problem.

4. It’s about what they want, not what they need. We all need a lot of things, but don’t buy them. We buy what we want, not what we need. Of course, we want some of the things that we need, but there are many needs that we put off in favor of the things that we want.

5. They are right. I cannot stress this enough. Your potential customer took a sales call to address what they consider to be a problem. They will buy nothing but a solution to that problem. Also, if you tell them they are wrong or try to correct them, they will automatically go on the defensive. You must agree with them and build on that agreement.

6. It’s about them, not you. Why should you buy what you would like to do or what you would like to see? They will buy what interests them. It doesn’t matter if you want to see them grow your business. It doesn’t matter if you want to have them at your event or have them in a program that you are running. It only matters if they want to be at the event and that means you should focus on their needs and wants and not yours and listen to those moments when you say, “What I’d love to see you do is …”

7. It’s just a conversation. Sure, there are strategies that will help you close more sales. You can follow the guidelines to keep up during a sales conversation, but at the end of the day, it’s just two people talking. It’s just a conversation.

8. It is your job to facilitate a conversation. Know when to listen and when to shut up. You are there to be a guide. The conversation that you are facilitating is the one that is going on in her mind. It is your job to guide the conversation in a way that is productive for your potential client and allows them to understand the problem you think they have and help them find a solution. The only way you can facilitate that conversation is to listen to what they are saying and ask them questions. You can follow a guide and also know when you need to listen more and reach a deeper level of understanding.

And please respect their thoughts. Give them space to really think and listen, very few people do.

9. You will be wrong. You will offer too much information. You will lose the train of your thoughts. You will forget something. It’s okay. You are human. Remember, this is just a conversation and you can certainly say, “You know, I was wrong here, can we go back to …”

10. Take control of the conversation. Let the person you are speaking with know the agenda and the format of the conversation. When your potential client takes control of the conversation, what often happens is that they ramble and you never get to the heart of the matter until they suddenly say, “Is it 4 o’clock already? I have to go. Thank you for your time, it was really useful. ” You end up frustrated and they don’t get a solution to their problem.

11. Ask the tough questions you are afraid to ask. A sales conversation has the potential to be transformative for your prospect, whether they eventually buy from you or not. If you know he’s thinking about something beyond what he’s saying out loud, ask him. Dig to find the real answers.

12. Be honest. One of my mentors says, “If you think about it and don’t say it, it’s a lie.” If you hear them say something between the lines, let them know. This does not mean that you should be mean to them. Use honesty to help them move on. Honesty and kindness go a long way.

13. Have something to sell to them and be flexible. Know how much your service costs and prepare a package that is easy for someone to understand and for you to sell. And be flexible. Listen to your prospect’s problem and make sure the solution you are offering makes sense to them and if you don’t find one that does.

14. Ask about the sale. Unless you ask them to work with you or buy your product, they won’t be able to get the help they’re looking for.

15. Trust yourself. They wouldn’t spend time talking to you if they didn’t have a problem that they think you can solve.

Well, there you have it. What can you do differently the next time you participate in a sales conversation?