Making More Sales Is Not Rocket Science

In discussions with our sales training clients in Toronto, Vancouver and Edmonton, we have come to a realization.  Sales success is easy to understand, yet challenging to achieve.  We aren’t trying to land NASA’s Juno spacecraft on Jupiter.  We are trying to understand our client’s needs and offer them solutions.  Here are the three things that have to occur for you to increase your sales.

As a sales trainer and revenue consultant, it’s my job to simplify the process of increasing sales.  Sales is one of toughest, most character-building careers anyone could choose.  It offers amazing income possibilities regardless of educational background.  You simply need to make things happen.  There is no need to look for a magic formula or the holy grail of closing techniques.  Do these three basic things consistently and persistently, and watch your sales grow.

Step #1:  Get on the phone every day and make appointments

Great Salespeople come to work every with an agenda.  It all starts with phone calls.  The lack of phone activity is the leading cause of poor sales.  Sending decision makers emails all day long adds to your Outbox and their over-flowing Inbox.  Spray-and-pray-spamming is not an effective sales activity.

Requests from potential clients to “email me some information” is the best way to get rid of Salespeople.  Be careful of co-workers who are time vampires  who spend a large portion of their day socializing and catching up on office gossip and trying to involve you in the same.

Smile, say hello to people, grab a coffee and hit the phones.  If you’re not good at prospecting, talk to your Sales Manager or a fellow Salesperson you respect and ask for help.

You can always spot the busiest Salespeople in an office.  They have headsets based on their amount of daily phone activity.   Your job is to entice enough potential customers to meet with you for a F2F (Face to Face) Customer Needs Analysis.

Work out your ratios.  Based on your weekly goal of CNAs, how many calls do you have to make each day to be booked up for the next three to five days?  Set an agenda and have the self-discipline to stick to it.

Step #2:  Be in front of clients Face-to-Face (F2F)

This is the result of your high phone activity.  You have a schedule of appointments booked on a regular basis.  If you’re an Outside Salesperson, you aren’t making any sales sitting in the office.  There is no replacement for being F2F with decision makers.  Can you build a relationship via phone and email?  Yes.  Can you further it with a F2F Meeting?  Always.

This is an important part of being a Salesperson.  Unlike you’re Sales Manager, you aren’t tied to a desk.  You can leave the office, get in your car and meet with people.  How many professionals have the opportunity to get paid to do that?

Ensure that you strike a balance between quantity and quality appointment expectations each week.  Traditional sales focused on the first – see a lot of people every day.  Some Salespeople feel it’s more about engaging with a smaller number of the right decision makers.  Find the sweet spot in the middle and don’t sacrifice one for the other.

Top-producing Salespeople have self-accountability and manage their client list like a franchise within the company.  That’s why their Sales Manager doesn’t feel the need to check up on them throughout the day.

Determine a reasonable goal for F2F appointments and write those appointments in your planner to build personal expectancy.  Appointment #1, Appointment #2, etc.  Fill in the names when you schedule the meetings.  There’s nothing like reporting to yourself.

Step #3:  Have a Plan for each Call

B2B Salespeople should do 15 minutes of research before each CNA.  Google the company name.  Put the word “news” after it to read current information.  Google the name of the decision maker.  You might find some interesting stuff in their LinkedIn profile.  Visit the company’s website and get educated.  Look through the navigation bar for great information like a FAQ section or Photo Gallery.

Don’t waste your decision maker’s time by asking questions that could’ve been answered with some homework on your part.  No matter who your decision makers are, they all share two common deficiencies – time and patience.  Don’t test either.

Have an agenda for each call.  Yes, of course you want to make a sale, yet the sales cycle in many cases demands multiple meetings with key people.

Successful Salespeople don’t wing it without having a basic idea of their call protocol.  You must take each decision maker though the sales cycle successfully to turn them from a prospect to a loyal customer.  That requires that you know where they are in the process at all times.

Step 1 + 2 + 3 = Making More Sales

While we know that there are many duties in your sales day, always ask yourself this question…

What have I done to proactively drive sales today?

Basic arithmetic never fails.  Follow these three steps to meet and exceed your targets.  While you may not be able to control the final decision of your customers, you have complete control of your activity level.  Now, go sell something.

What do you think?    I’m always interested in your opinion.  If you liked this post, share it on your favorite social media platform.

Dave Warawa – PROSALESGUY 

Author of SHUT UP! Stop Talking and Start Making Money available on Amazon in paperback and kindle