In Business the trick when making appointments, is not to be too pushy otherwise when you turn up to do a presentation you are dealing with a hostile business owner. It is better at the initial call to hear a quick rejection and move on to the next company.

Why waste any more time then is necessary on a business that is unlikely to buy straight away? This strategy will also work in your favour when you do go back to that customer in the future to ask for an appointment again.

With regards to making appointments it is often better to use a professional company to do this for you. Making appointments can be soul destroying and very time consuming. You can not be visiting clients and making appointments at the same time!

If the money you can generate from a client is more than enough to cover the cost of making appointments then surely your time would be better spent seeing more clients? If the profit from one sale can cover the costs of paying someone to make four appointments for you and you are converting one in every two appointments then your time is better spent visiting clients.

At the same time, do not be pushy when doing your presentations. By being pushy you might lose the chance of ever doing business with that client if by chance they liked your product but were not ready to buy straight away. Make it clear that you are there to do business by having the order forms clearly visible whilst you are showing your product. Focus on how your product can help them. Encourage your potential client to ask you questions.

Be enthusiastic about your product. This "love" for your product must be clearly visible to the potential customer. Whilst showing them your products, knock hell out of the competition if the client brings them into the discussion. It is important to be truthful and accurate about the competitor. Find the key areas that their product fails on and focus on this.

Ask what they are currently paying. Many people have no hesitation in giving you their current prices. Remove any obstacles or objections given. Then ask! That's the most important thing.... ASK for their business!

You have to think on your feet. Here is a typical scenario; you are selling advertising on your own local internet portal. The customer says that he can not afford to advertise now but he can start advertising in two months. Ask for deposit and one month's payment in advance and offer him the first two months of advertising free of charge.

Another scenario I come across often is when the customer does not have his bank details to finish filling in the order form. Rather than leaving the form with the customer to return I ask him to fill in the bits that they can and sign the form. I then contact the customer at a later date when they have their bank details in front of them.

This method solves two problems. Firstly the customer might lose the form or never send it in & secondly I do not have to go back to visit them again just to fill in some paperwork!

When doing sales it is essential that you have a thick skin. You must be able to handle rejection without feeling down. Some people will do business with you straight away. Others might take some time to come and some will never buy from you. If you can treat all three the same then you are on your way to becoming a successful sales person.