61% of salespeople consider selling harder or much harder than just five years ago. Why? Maybe it’s new developments in technology or consumers simply having more options or some other factor out of your control.

No matter the reason, salespeople need new strategies and tactics to close the gap and convert prospects.

To help, we’ve identified five simple tips on how to convert prospects into customers—plus a tool you can use to make closing sales even faster.

1. Do your homework on prospects

Before making any moves, you should have a clear idea of who you’re selling to, which means learning more about your customer base. According to Crunchbase, the best sales reps spend an average of 6 hours a week researching their prospects.

Doing research gives sales teams invaluable insights into what types of customers to target, what kinds of conversations to have with them, and how they might react to certain solutions. In short, it helps teams be more strategic when dealing with prospects while reducing the amount of tire kickers.

You can conduct research by looking through your prospects' social media conversations and profiles, analyzing your reviews and your competitors’, sending out surveys to your current customers, or taking advantage of publicly available data about your industry.

2. Tailor your solution to your prospects' problems

Prospects come to you with a problem, but they don’t always know the best way to fix it. It’s up to you to show them how your product can help, and why it’s the best solution for their needs.

The key is to be informed about all the features and benefits of your product or service so you can point out the elements that are relevant to addressing the prospect’s problem. From there, you should create a collection of resources that you can pull from according to the needs of your prospect.

For example, you could have a handful of pre-made slides, customer testimonials, or demo videos, which can be easily recorded with a platform like Capture.

Be prepared to lay out a plan of action and make sure it includes measurable results. Explain why your solution is easy or cost-effective, and emphasize any bonus features that make it stand out from other options on the market. If you can build trust by sharing success stories from other users, even better.

3. Sweeten the deal with an offer or discount

Knowing when and how to offer discounts is key. You should never give away too much for free, but you also want to give prospects a good reason to bite. When in doubt, use your industry knowledge and research the competition to see what kind of deals they're offering.

Another option is to offer extended payment plans that allow prospects to purchase your product or service over time in manageable chunks. This can be especially helpful if your customer is on a budget or if they need more time to decide if your product is the right fit for them.

Making deals with customers can also go beyond discounts or payment plan options. You can add value with extra features or free follow-up services. The goal is to demonstrate that you understand their needs and that you're prepared to meet them halfway to close the deal.

Don’t forget to use a bit of caution, as you don’t want to overuse offers and discounts. If your audience knows that a “special” sale is always or regularly available, they may get used to never paying full price. Be strategic about your offers so that your prospects still understand the value of what you’re selling.

4. Make converting easy for your customers

It’s not enough to have a better product or service than your competitors—having good customer service is just as, if not more, crucial when 78% of customers back out of deals due to a poor customer experience.

Relying on an outdated or slow process can also have a negative impact on your ability to close, especially when 75% of customers expect businesses to use technology to better the customer experience.

That’s why using eSignatures can be helpful—customers can sign from anywhere and at any time, simplifying the purchasing process.

Instead of having to send off a contract in the mail, or make your customers come into your office to sign, an eSignature tool like Dropbox Sign allows you to simply create a contract template, autofill the prospect’s information, send the contract off, and have your new customer sign the contract right from their device.

Lock in your prospects faster with Dropbox Sign

With Dropbox Sign, you can speed up the backend work for your sales team by allowing them to draft, send, and store contracts directly within your CRM. Plus, with the help of automatic reminders, sales reps don’t have to spend precious time sending follow-ups—they can focus on selling.

Sell faster and smarter with Dropbox Sign.

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