Colleen’s Blog

I've had many opportunities recently to sit in during sales meetings and presentations, and I have to be honest. Awful is the really the only word that comes to mind.

If you're in sales, you know the age-old mentality towards marketing. They're often looked at as the "bad guys." They're not the enemy.

Have you ever wondered what makes you and your business more interesting to your prospects and clients? It isn’t hourly updates on social media or a picture with a celebrity. In fact, what makes a business more interesting to prospects often eludes most business owners.

Are you actively seeking referrals from your current client base? According to recent studies, 78% of happy clients want to give out referrals. Yet only 8% of salespeople actually ask for them. Can you see the disconnect? It doesn't take a math genius to figure out that many salespeople are missing out on key opportunities to increase their sales and grow their businesses. I understand the intimidation factor, but the truth is in order to achieve and maintain any kind of success in sales, you have to push through the intimidation and ask for referrals anyway. They are such a powerful tool to grow your customer base, and not asking for them often enough is doing a huge disservice to yourself and your business.

Far too many companies out there simply aren't growing. They're stagnating - once exciting results have been relived quarter and quarter and year after year and they're itching to see greater revenue. Does this sound like you?

I have a question for you. Do you really know where your revenue comes from? Most businesses can probably answer that question pretty quickly. It's obvious, right? Not so fast. Recently, we've been involved in a very large sales reorganization. There are three sales teams, a channel sales team, a field sales team and an inside sales team. It was always assumed that the field sales team was the main revenue engine. After all, they were the ones going out, finding leads and closing business. But, we uncovered something interesting...

You may have noticed an interesting trend that has recently picked up steam. Buyers are looking less for experts (this is not an excuse to NOT be an expert, by the way) and they're increasingly looking for peers. They want someone is equal to them and at the same level as them, even if they hold different titles from the person they're buying from. Here are two important steps you need to consider if you want to be perceived as a peer and build trust with your customers:

How can you ensure that you’re hiring the right people to join your sales team? Many sales leaders have been asking me how to hire new sales reps and build a profitable team. I often suggest taking a step back before conducting interviews and hiring a new team member. There are a few things you need to do before you proceed with interviews in order to ensure that you hire the right person and create the best team possible.

What's up with the recent increase in dishonest sellers this year? Seriously, how can anyone actually think beginning a relationship with dishonesty is going to pay off in the end? It boggles my mind!

Based on my work over the last year, I've identified 6 top reasons that I see sales teams fall short of their full sales potential. Could you be making the same mistakes? If you are, I would highly suggest course correcting and updating your processes.