The Formula for Sales Success
The Formula for Sales Success
Initially we should go back to basics and ensure that we are covering all of the bases.
Firstly we should look at Efficiency.
Ask yourself, are we developing the right type of relationships with our prospects? Are they typically the level that we know we can influence and win? Are we making the right type of initial cold call and then nurturing the follow-up? Are we making the right kind of visits? Given that visits can often remove a whole day from the sales calendar we should consider the value and if possible have more than one prospect visit in a day. Are we completely updated as to how to answer today’s’ objections? Basic objection handling skill is good but every service and product has a ‘sell by date’ so different objections will develop and need clarification over a period of time – ensure that you can easily objection handle even the most complex objection. Ask yourself about your negotiation and closing skills – if you haven’t worked on them in today’s economy you could lose the sale even at this late stage of the sales cycle simply because your skill was not good enough.
Secondly Effectiveness.
This is where you have the skill level and understanding to do the right sales things at the right time. Think about the companies that you engage with. Are they the right size, the right location and are they likely to have the right budget? Are they the right people that you are spending time chasing or talking to – how do you know? Do you have all of the right arguments that you can skilfully present to help prospects understand where the value is and the differences they would enjoy once they start adopting your solution/service/product? Have you considered the objectives and priorities? You should also consider that not every prospect is a good prospect and you may find that a disproportionate amount of time is being invested in something that will never happen.
Lastly Productivity
Understanding your sales metrics is important and will provide you with valuable feedback as to what you are actually achieving. Here we can increase revenues easily by being more effective. You may already understand that targeting the right companies and making more of the right phone calls is going to get you more of the right results. Start to measure visits and conversion rates. Start to measure and monitor your phone calls. Start to look at the time when you first pick up the phone in the morning and when you make the last prospecting call at night. Remember that most sales people think that sales is a 9 to 5 job. If you are in this category you probably do not speak to enough decision makers as they are usually around and take calls early or late.
One last point look at increasing the revenues at the point of purchase. Use your up selling sales techniques and simply ASK for more – you may get it!
If you start to do this you will also start to magically enjoy more sales success – it’s easy but not simple.
Mike Palman works with The Sales Academy www.thesalesacademy.com and is a master sales coach.
The Formula for Sales Success - To learn more about this author, visit Mike Palman's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Many companies have seen significant increases in revenues as a direct result of changing their sales thought process from selling to a prospect, to allowing prospects to buy. This means that salespeople must now align themselves with prospects and together create a compelling desire to buy. This shift alone will make an important difference in the way that salespeople interface with prospects rather than the traditional attempt of selling features of the product or solution that is wanting to be sold! However this might not be enough because, as we all know, closing business is hard and takes both time and sales skill – so what can be done to improve the probability of sales success?
Initially we should go back to basics and ensure that we are covering all of the bases.
Firstly we should look at Efficiency.
Ask yourself, are we developing the right type of relationships with our prospects? Are they typically the level that we know we can influence and win? Are we making the right type of initial cold call and then nurturing the follow-up? Are we making the right kind of visits? Given that visits can often remove a whole day from the sales calendar we should consider the value and if possible have more than one prospect visit in a day. Are we completely updated as to how to answer today’s’ objections? Basic objection handling skill is good but every service and product has a ‘sell by date’ so different objections will develop and need clarification over a period of time – ensure that you can easily objection handle even the most complex objection. Ask yourself about your negotiation and closing skills – if you haven’t worked on them in today’s economy you could lose the sale even at this late stage of the sales cycle simply because your skill was not good enough.
Secondly Effectiveness.
This is where you have the skill level and understanding to do the right sales things at the right time. Think about the companies that you engage with. Are they the right size, the right location and are they likely to have the right budget? Are they the right people that you are spending time chasing or talking to – how do you know? Do you have all of the right arguments that you can skilfully present to help prospects understand where the value is and the differences they would enjoy once they start adopting your solution/service/product? Have you considered the objectives and priorities? You should also consider that not every prospect is a good prospect and you may find that a disproportionate amount of time is being invested in something that will never happen.
Lastly Productivity
Understanding your sales metrics is important and will provide you with valuable feedback as to what you are actually achieving. Here we can increase revenues easily by being more effective. You may already understand that targeting the right companies and making more of the right phone calls is going to get you more of the right results. Start to measure visits and conversion rates. Start to measure and monitor your phone calls. Start to look at the time when you first pick up the phone in the morning and when you make the last prospecting call at night. Remember that most sales people think that sales is a 9 to 5 job. If you are in this category you probably do not speak to enough decision makers as they are usually around and take calls early or late.
One last point look at increasing the revenues at the point of purchase. Use your up selling sales techniques and simply ASK for more – you may get it!
If you start to do this you will also start to magically enjoy more sales success – it’s easy but not simple.
Mike Palman works with The Sales Academy www.thesalesacademy.com and is a master sales coach.
The Formula for Sales Success - To learn more about this author, visit Mike Palman's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
|||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|||
John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
|||
Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
|||
George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
|||
Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Mike's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
|
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Leadership Style Assessment Tips For Less Stress The Flowing Point Start eTutoring Business Challenges Of Change |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 SEO Posts - 2008
Top SEO Posts of the Year | |
 |
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs
Top 50 Geek Business Blogs | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
