These easy tweaks to your sales process to create a huge increase in both sales revenue and profit:
Step 1. Reduce the number of opportunities you pursue
The more opportunities you've got, the more likely you are to make a
sale, right? Wrong. If you can't give each prospect the attention they
deserve, you'll lose sales you otherwise might make.
Step 2. Increase the percentage of time you spend selling
Get somebody else to handle your paperwork, expense reports, or
whatever busywork is involved with making a sale. Use the extra time to
get in front of customers.
Step 3. Stop buying technology because it's cool
Smartphones, tablets, and PCs can be important tools--but learning
and supporting them can drain your productivity. Only purchase devices
and programs that actually help you sell.
Step 4. Think about your solution as a verb
Suppose your company makes glue. If you're selling "glue" (a noun),
you'll talk about product features. If you're selling "gluing" (a verb),
you'll talk what your offering does for your customer's business.
Step 5. Treat selling as a service to the customer
Stop thinking that selling means "convincing" the customer,
"overcoming" objections, and "winning" the business. Instead, view
yourself as the customer's ally in solving a problem.
Step 6. Terminate weak engagements
The moment you find out that a customer really doesn't need what
you're offering, point them in the right direction, then politely
withdraw from the opportunity.
Step 7. Don't confuse telling with selling
Rather than talking to the customer about what your product can do,
ask intelligent questions so that the two of you can discover whether
the customer really needs you to help solve a problem or achieve a goal.
Step 8. Hone your lead generation effort
Based upon your own experience, observe who's just interested and
who's actually buying. Hone your lead generation efforts to find more of
the ones who are actually spending money on your offering.
Step 9. Don't focus on the gatekeepers
Make sure that you're talking to the real decision-makers, and not
just the influencers and sideliners. When you meet a decision-maker,
stay in regular communication throughout the sales cycle.
Step 10. Stay atop of your opportunities
Don't lose track of what's changing inside the account. Build a short
sales plan that documents the process and the players, so you don't
spin your wheels trying to remember who needs what and when.
Step 11. Outflank your competition
Find out who the other guys are calling on, and how they're
approaching the account. Figure out who they're talking to, what they're
saying, and defensively position your offering to counter their
approach.
Step 12. Increase your average sales value
It takes just about as much effort to cut a $1,000 deal as it does to
cut a $10,000 deal. The more revenue you book on each opportunity, the
more money you'll make overall.
