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Sales Success Tip-Think You Need More Leads? Think Again!

Written by: Greg Beverly

Article Overview: It's the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of how to increase your sales. But just because it's first way, doesn't mean it's the best way.

Sales Success Tip-Think You Need More Leads? Think Again!

Almost every sales person I speak with, when discussing their prospects for increasing their sales volume and thus their commissions start with leads. While leads a very important part of increasing sales, I find more often than not, most don't think about or simply ignore finding ways to improve the conversion of the leads they are already getting!

Here's a real life example: One of my personal clients came to me looking to increase sales. He predictably wanted to start with how to get more leads. But before I would let him get into that area, I wanted to understand how well he was doing with his current leads. "What's your current conversion ratio?" I asked. "Well, I'm not sure exactly, but it's probably somewhere around 60-70%," he responded. "Measure it and get back to me in two weeks," I said. He was not happy, but he did as I instructed.

When he had the results, he was crushed. "16%. 16%," he said. "That’s' awful. I can't believe it!" "Actually, that's GREAT," I yelled at him. "How can that possibly be great?" "Ah, we can double, triple, even quadruple 16%!" "Do you know what would happen if you went from 16% to only 32%?" "Double my sales?" "How about to 48%? And that's still not even half!" "That would triple my sales, wouldn't it?"

Within 30 days, his ratio was up to 34%. That's right. In less than 30 days, he had just doubled his sales, all by making a few minor, but explosive changes in his conversion strategy.

Take a look at your conversion rates. Are they all they could be? Remember, a 10% increase here is a 10% increase in sales and commissions, perhaps more if you are on a tiered schedule. And remember, if you currently have a 30% conversion ration, you only need to increase that to 33% to put 10% more in your pocket.

Look for ways to increase the number of current leads you are converting before looking for more leads. It only makes sense.

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