6 Ways To Get Prospects To Pick You

In the past 24 months, I have noticed that the rules of selling have changed.  Now, more than ever before, buyers are looking at the "value" or "ROI" of what you sell. Good, bad or indifferent, this is now the reality of "being in sales."  

You Can Win More Sales Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible.

A few weeks ago, I spoke with the owner of a large business -- a business with a great reputation. During our discussion, the owner told me his salespeople were losing sales to the competition at an alarming rate. What was interesting was that his sales leader denied there was a problem. Of course, after a while even she could not avoid the reality of these lost sales.

After discussing their sales and marketing strategies and tactics, I thought of six areas that would have a huge impact on their sales -- and yours too.

6 Tips To Help Your Sales Team Win More Sales:

Tip #1. Keep Track Of Your Sales Team's Proposal Close Rate:  First and foremost, you need to keep track of what is happening on the sales front.  In fact, this is more important than keeping track of how many telephone calls a salesperson makes.

Tip #2. Keep Track Of How Many "Decision Making" Sales Calls A Salesperson Has Each Week:  The key to a salesperson's sales success is the result of how many meetings per week they have with a decision maker, so measure how many they have.

Tip #3. Create A Business Development Center For Your Salespeople: Salespeople need to have a suite of sales tools at their fingertips that they can use whenever they are on a sales call.  These tools can range from client testimonials to buyer's guides, whitepapers to vouchers, etc. 

Tip #4. Make Sure Your Salespeople Know Your Company's Unique Selling Proposition: The next time you talk with a salesperson at your company, you need to make sure they can answer one question: What makes us any better or different from the competition?  If they use phrases like, "we have been in business since 19XX," "we are cheaper than the competition," "we are local" or "we offer great customer service," then you need to look into developing a mandatory elevator pitch. 

Tip #5. Measure The Growth Of Each Salesperson's Prospect Database: 60% or more of your sales success is based on the size and quality of a salesperson's prospect database.  That being said, don't you think it makes good business sense to measure the ebb and flow of a salesperson's database on a weekly or bi-weekly basis?

Tip #6. Create A Series Of e-Mail Marketing And Direct Mail Campaigns: At the end of the sales day, 99% of all salespeople stop calling a prospect after their third unsuccessful attempt at moving the sales process forward.  This hard truth is exactly why your business needs to have a series of e-mail marketing and direct mail campaigns that you can send off to your database of clients, past clients and prospective clients.