Colleen’s Blog

We are now in the second quarter of the year! Didn't we just ring in the new year? By now, either you're making steady progress towards your sales goals for 2017, or you may have already forgotten about the goals you set. Whether you're behind, ahead or whether reading these words is serving as a reminder to actually set important goals, there is a fundamental mistake that salespeople make when setting and working towards their objectives. What's the mistake you ask?

Chris and I are working on an interesting project helping a client provide transformation technology to the hospitality industry. We recently spent a week in Japan, a country known for their hospitality. Our week abroad has provided us insights about where North American businesses can improve their customer experiences. Here are my top 3 tips for you:

The sales profession is in the midst of a perfect storm. Buyers have more power, more information, more at stake, and more control over the sales process—than at any time in history. Legions of salespeople and their leaders are coming face-to-face with a cold, hard truth: what once gave salespeople a competitive edge—controlling the sales process, command of product knowledge, an arsenal of technology, and a great pitch—are no longer guarantees of success. Yet, in the eye of this storm, an elite group of top 1 percent sales professionals are crushing it. These Ultra-High Performers are acutely aware that the emotional experience of buying from them is far more important (and powerful) than products, prices, features, and solutions.

The best salespeople are constantly looking for ways to improve. They are not staying static for extended periods of time because, let’s face it, if you’re not moving forward - you’re moving backwards! There’s almost nothing better than reaching (or exceeding) all of your sales goals for the year. A certain feeling of accomplishment is natural, and should be embraced! However, will you be satisfied if your numbers stay the same next year? Are you doing anything to improve upon your past accomplishments? The answer for many salespeople is no. They often work hard to create temporary success and soon after end up in a worse situation than they were before because they allow temporary accomplishments to hinder their work ethic. Here are two things you can do to improve upon your current success:

Is your business experiencing wild swings in revenue? This may surprise you, but putting too much emphasis on closing business is actually counterproductive to increasing your revenues. What?! Let me explain. Every time you close a sale you should be adding three to four more leads to your pipeline. When you’re concentrating too much on closing business it detracts focus from gaining new leads. Before long, you will have no new leads to close business with, and this is what causes swings in revenue or sales whiplash...as I like to call it! Don't worry, dear sellers, there are ways to avoid this. Are you wondering how you can attain consistent sales?

Is your sales team actively seeking out 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. How many of these opportunities are slipping through the fingers of your sales team?

When meeting with prospects or high level decision makers, many salespeople focus on the wrong type of conversation. Your average salesperson will spend hours preparing sheets that outline their product’s features, benefits, pricing and other details. They practice their pitch, and at times have a lengthy speech rehearsed. While preparation is never a bad thing, the successful salesperson understands the value of focusing on the correct aspect of the presentation.

Closing rates are ALWAYS the "topic of the day" during workshops, coaching calls and strategy sessions. What is yours? Is that high or low compared to average? What would you expect it to be? How can we make it better? Is my closing rate higher or lower for lost deals vs. won deals? Questions abound, here's where you should start.

Want to accelerate your sales this year, but unsure which sales skill to make a priority and develop among your sales reps? If I had to choose one to suggest to you, it would be prospecting. Now, let's dive a little bit deeper to specifically the kind of prospecting I'm talking about.

Get creative. That's my advice for any business owner or sales leader about to embark on a new phase of recruiting. Far too many leaders stick to the same old, same old when it comes to their recruitment process and trying to find great talent to join their team. It's surprising to see how many organizations stick with ads in the paper, online postings and even using the same recruiters they've used in the past. They don't switch things up! The result? The same tired and boring resumes that keeping flocking in. Sure - you may find a great hire in that pile of resumes. But, generally speaking, if you want to find a "stand out" candidate, don't use a worn out process to try and attract them. Here's how you can add a little creativity to your hiring process: