Have you ever been on a sales appointment with a colleague and, while observing them, they seem unwavering in their ability to swiftly answer their prospect’s questions, no matter what curveball came at them? This sales professional is incredibly proficient at thinking on their feet. Believe it or not, it is a skill you can develop and eventually master.

The path to master this isn’t quite as daunting as you might think, and regardless of where you are at with this skill set, a sales professional who can think on their feet stands to set themselves far beyond the competition.

There are three key things you’ll need to develop.

One. Know your company, products and services thoroughly. You really want to go to school on this. Proficient product knowledge makes you a better sales professional and increases your confidence, which is important when interacting with your prospects.

Learn everything about your company and what it has to offer. Few sales professionals go beyond the surface to learn their own company story. Very likely, there is a unique story about how the company was formed. By learning your company story and operational strategies, in addition to your product and service offerings, you’ll know better how to answer their questions.

You’ll know delivery times and pitfalls to avoid and will have a strong understanding of the logistics involved with serving your customers.

Understanding your company’s shortcomings is as important as your product knowledge. All companies have them, and yours is no exception. By knowing these areas of opportunity, you can better prepare how you’re going to navigate your prospect away from those potential pitfalls and toward alternate ways in which you can really stand out.

Two. Start writing down questions you think your prospect might ask based on their industry and what you know about them. If you were them, what questions would you ask?

Write down questions they may ask related to your company’s shortcomings too. What questions might they ask that would make you insecure in your presentation? Identify this and prepare your responses as best you can.

Prior to meeting with your prospect, you should have a general idea of why you are meeting. Is this introductory or is this because they already have an idea on what they’re looking for? Understanding this can help you be better prepared for what questions will come your way. Being properly prepared will help you effectively handle curveball questions and objections.

Okay, this third one is probably the most important.

See the sales process from the point of view of your prospect. What problems are they trying to solve? How can you make this person look good in front of their peers and superiors as you go through the process with them?

Try to identify why they would want to work with you and your company.

Too often we look at the process with our clients as a battle filled with conflict. But it shouldn’t be. It should be the natural development of a business relationship.

When you put yourself in your prospect’s position, or at least attempt to genuinely see things from their point of view, you start to take away conflict and move towards mutual resolution.

You’re not going to have every answer, but by adopting these three steps, you’ll start to position yourself as a trusted advisor to your prospect. When you become the trusted advisor to your prospect, they usually become a client with whom you have a solid business relationship.

How do we put this all together? Think of step three as the piece that makes steps one and two effective.

Understand your product knowledge from a prospect’s perspective. Why would they care about the advantages of your offering?

As far as knowing your company, what things about the company story would matter to your prospect?

Thinking better on your feet comes down to having confidence in what – and who – you’re representing and then knowing how to effectively relate this to your prospects and clients.

One final thing…You’re never going to be able to answer every question, and your prospect isn’t going to expect you to. It is always better to respond with something like, “I don’t know the answer to that off the top of my head, but please let me look into it and I’ll get right back to you.”

They will appreciate your honesty. Just make sure you follow up in a timely manner.

At the end of the day, thinking on your feet really comes from putting yourself in your prospect’s shoes.