THE MAGIC OF INFORMATION
If you've been there, there's nothing like the feeling of answering a call from a potential client, who reveals to you their most pressing problem - something that fits perfectly with your main product or service.
They let you know that they have a large budget; a project allocation; they need a hand preparing a presentation for the key stakeholders (and they'd love a hand to prepare it, hit, hint!) - they also needed it delivered and finished in 2 month's time.
"Abracadabra!", you must have pulled a rabbit (or a new sale), out of a hat!
If you've built up "trusted advisor" status over years with an existing client you might get an experience like this. If you need to build this experience sooner, you'll need to work hard in many areas.
If you haven't, then you'll need to work out what's wrong with your sales process - where and how you need to adjust.
If you aren't collecting any data in a way that helps sellers and management, then you'll struggle to do anything.
There are two critical elements: asking the questions (so you can collect the answers) and building trust (so you're trusted to take the next step with your prospect).