Salespeople, like Hollywood actors, put themselves on the line whenever they speak, hoping for a favorable outcome. But even the best, most experienced salesperson can use some coaching and polishing now and then, contends Patricia Fripp, a sales and customer service expert and author of Get What You Want! and Make It, So You Don’t Have to Fake It! Here are six common mistakes salespeople make, Fripp says, and how to avoid them:

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1. Unclear thinking. If you can’t describe the objective of your interaction in one sentence, you may be guilty of fuzzy focus, trying to say too much at once. You’ll confuse your listener, and that won’t help you make the sale. At any stage of the sales process, you should know in advance why you are interacting, what benefits you are offering your prospect or client, and what you’d like the next step to be.

2. No clear structure. Make it easy for your prospect to follow what you are saying, whether in a casual conversation or a formal presentation of information and ideas. They’ll remember it better — and you will, too. If you waffle or ramble, you lose your listeners. Even for a conversation, mentally outline your objectives. What key “points of wisdom” do you want the prospect to remember? How will you illustrate each point? What phrases or slogans do you want to guarantee they will repeat afterward? You speak to be remembered and repeated.

3. Talking too much. Salespeople often talk too much about themselves and their service or product. They make a speech rather than having an exchange or interaction, otherwise known as a conversation. Ask questions, and wait for, and listen to, the answers. In fact, a successful encounter early in the sales process should probably be mostly open-ended questions, the kind that require longer answers rather than just “yes” and “no.” Learn to listen, even pausing to wait for further comments.

4. No memorable stories. Regardless of your sales techniques, people rarely remember your exact words. Instead, they remember the mental images your words inspire. Support your key points with vivid, relevant stories. Help them “make the movie” in their minds by using memorable characters, exciting situations, intriguing dialogue, suspense, and humor. Telling stories of satisfied clients and painting a picture of how this client’s condition will be improved with your product or service are appropriate.

5. No third-person endorsements. When it comes to successful sales techniques, there’s a limit to how many bold claims you can make about your company and product results, but there is no limit to the words of praise you can put in the mouths of your delighted clients. Use case histories of your clients’ success stories about the benefits they received from your service or product. When you are using their actual dialogue, you can say much more glowing things about yourself and your company than you could if the words were your own.

6. No emotional connection. The most effective sales conversion techniques combine both intellectual and emotional connections. Intellectual means appealing to educated self-interest with data and reasoned arguments. Emotion comes from engaging listeners’ imaginations, involving them in your illustrative stories by frequent use of the word “you” and from answering their unspoken question, “What’s in this for me?” Obviously, a customer is going to justify doing business with you for specific analytical reasons. What gives you the edge is creating an emotional connection, too.

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