While it is true there are hundreds of things to learn and perfect when working on becoming an elite sales person, when putting it into the simplest of terms, it really comes down to the Big 4:
FIRST You have to truly BELIEVE in your product or service. When a prospect looks YOU in the eye will they sense how much you love what you do and how much you beleive in what you are offering? Remember, we are in the pursuation business. We are trying to persuade our prospect or client to buy from us/work with us because we truly believe in what we are selling and that we can help them. NOTE: this belief usually comes after you notch your first few bullets under your belt!
SECOND You need to handle all objections effectively. When someone asks you questions or even objections, that is usually a good sign that they may be interested. When you can respond to objections in a positive manner, you build credibility and trust. It is good to be confident, but not cocky and people like buying from confident, trustworthy people. SUGGESTION: Write down the top 50 objections you might come across in your profession. Then write down what would be a proper response to said objections. And finally, memorize these responses so they come automatically to you when you need them.
THIRD Product knowledge. It is important that you know your product or service inside out. We all know how important bonding and rapport is, digging into the prospects pain points, etc, but you really should continuously educate yourself on what you are offering. TIP: It is important to educate yourself atleast a little bit every day. It never ends!
FOURTH – Relating to people. There are all kinds of people in this world. Type As, Amiables, Analyticals, Expressives, Introverts, Extroverts and on and on. It sure helps if you can relate to everyone you meet. Bonding with them, building rapport and likability. Finding levels of commonality. This leads to trust and people buy from people they like! NOTE: If you can tell what type of personality you are dealing with sooner than later, it will give you a leg up on how to communicate with them.