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Do you want to dramatically increase your sales? Whether it’s products, services or an idea, the foundation of a business is the ability to sell. When it comes to selling and closing deals, your prospects don’t want to be told stories. Being a good salesperson means being a good listener, a critical thinker and an effective salesperson.
As a CEO, you are aware of the importance of having and building a high-performance team that will grow the company for you and that will apply your business tactics. To do this, your sales force must follow these best practices Read how to increase sales for my new business:
Always prospect on a regular basis
Salespeople should not run out of sales opportunities one month and then work harder to catch up during the next month. They need to stay consistent in prospecting. Companies face inconsistent results because they tolerate inconsistency when it comes to prospecting and getting new opportunities into the pipeline.
Tip for salespeople:
Put prospecting slots on your calendar each week AND stick to those dedicated times
Be prepared when you start prospecting
Cut yourself off from distractions such as email
Tips for sales managers:
Make prospecting activities mandatory
Track each salesperson’s weekly prospecting activities and results
2 – Always ask for references and introductions
When sales reps talk to prospects and customers, they should always ask for referrals and introductions! Sales growth is closely linked to the quantity of opportunities that enter the pipeline, but also to their quality.
Obviously, referrals and introductions generate better conversion ratios than all other sources of leads. The main reason why salespeople don’t get referrals avple is because they don’t ask for them! Remind them that 80% of introductions lead to sales.
Always keep a full pipeline
In connection with the first point, it is absolutely essential not to wait until the pipeline of opportunities is empty before prospecting. You need to know the average length of the sales cycle to know when an opportunity that enters the pipeline should close.
If there are enough prospects entering the pipeline, sales will naturally follow. It is important to remain consistent. Up and down efforts will only give you roller coaster-like results.
Tips for salespeople:
Make sure you are adding sales opportunities in sufficient quantity (number of opportunities) and with a good level of quality (opportunity value)
Once opportunities are entered into the pipeline, they must advance to closing through the sales process or be disqualified. Simply put, there must be constant movement in the pipeline.
Tips for sales managers:
Do regular pipeline reviews with each of your reps.
Make sure the weighted value of the pipeline is consistently aligned with sales goals.
Be firm and disqualify opportunities that appear to be abandoned if there is no next step defined by the rep.
Always have the urgency to close
It is important to understand the notion of urgency to close. It is not a matter of wanting to “close” clients at all costs during the first meeting or to put any pressure on the client. Also, sales representatives may interpret a request for a quote as a sign that the customer is ready to sign, when in fact he or she simply wants to obtain information from the salesperson.
Reps need to have a sense of urgency to close when all steps of the sales process are completed and the customer needs to make a buying decision.
Always coach your sales team
Coaching reps is the number one priority of the most effective sales managers. They spend at least 50% of their time coaching.
Often, coaching is perceived as a very different task than it really is!
Coaching can be done formally or informally, but in any case it must be done on a daily basis. To start coaching representatives individually, two activities should be prioritized: pre-meeting preparation and post-meeting debriefing.
Things to remember
To succeed in increasing sales in any context, sales forces including managers need to structure themselves, follow the best practices listed above and be consistent in their efforts and improvement.
