Colleen’s Blog

How discoverable are you to new clients and prospects? In this day and age, you need multiple avenues to expand your outreach. It’s no longer good enough to simply pick up the phone or send emails. You require a fusion of different approaches that are executed consistently to create real growth in your business. <-- Click To Tweet How many of the following are your regularly engaging in?

A funny thing happens as salespeople become more and more experienced with their company or product. They also become less and less effective. Yes, you read that correctly. Salespeople often becomes less effective with the more experience that they gain. At first glance, it would seem that the exact opposite should be true. Yet, it still happens time and time again. How can this be?

Be honest...how prepared are you for every sales call, presentation and meeting? Do you have a “general idea” of the topics you would like to cover, or do you have a detailed strategy, on paper, that outlines exactly what needs to be discussed?Have you run through everything that could go right and wrong and developed primary and secondary materials? Some people call it guarding against "Murphy's Law" but I call it preparing for profitability. Being prepared for every sales call means there is a smaller likelihood that you will be caught off guard. You want to do everything in your power to avoid looking unprepared or flustered in front of a client. The best way to make this happen is...by being prepared! Crazy, isn’t it?! Here are six questions to ask yourself prior to a sales meeting:

Are you finding it difficult to hit your sales targets? I have to touch on a pet-peeve of mine today. It bothers me to see salespeople struggling! It genuinely annoys me even more when salespeople blame external factors for their failures. They blame the market, their colleagues, their competition, and their lack of resources for their shortcomings, but rarely ever look in the mirror. It’s frustrating! I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again...you are in control of your own sales results! Period. It’s easy to blame the economy or the market for your lack of sales. It’s easy to blame your colleagues or your competition. It’s easy to blame everything and everyone else. However, successful salespeople rarely take the easy way out.

Are common mistakes negatively impacting your numbers? Many salespeople like to get into the "nitty-gritty" of why they are not succeeding. They search high and low for advanced sales techniques and try to find answers as to why they’re unable to hit their sales targets. Does this sound familiar? You may just need to simplify things. The answers you’re seeking could be right under your nose! There are five mistakes that many salespeople make but don’t even address when trying to improve their sales. Studying and implementing these simple but crucial strategies will help you maintain a competitive advantage.

Are you doing enough to build your current relationships? When you close a sale with a new client, you create a new relationship that needs to be nurtured. All too often, salespeople make a sale and then move to the next prospect. When a salesperson continues this trend long term, their client retention is going to fail...it’s inevitable! I hope you’re considering ways to increase your sales in 2015. But, as you know, client retention is just as important as client acquisition. Here are a few tips to help you maintain and build your current relationships in the New Year:

Wow. In three weeks we are officially going to be in 2015. You're hearing me talk a lot about year end activities and tips for starting 2015 on the right foot. This is a deliberate attempt to help you focus on getting ahead and making the upcoming year your most successful to date. If you're reading this blog and taking the time to increase your knowledge, I know you can do it. Speaking of focus, what are you focused on in your day-to-day tasks and routines?

As salespeople, we spend many hours investing in our own knowledge. Workshops, conferences, coaching, books...the list goes on! The best sellers are always looking for new ways to increase their knowledge and expose themselves to new information. This is such an essential key for massive success in sales, but it won’t do you any good if you lack perhaps the most important ingredient in business, which is honesty. To be fair - the majority of salespeople aren’t “dishonest” people. But, it’s safe to say that many salespeople extend or bend the truth to either belittle the competition or make up for weaknesses in their own product or service. Don’t be one of the many!

Voicemail - your best friend and your most frustrating adversary. On one hand, it allows you to ignore phone calls that you don’t want to answer and also allows important contacts to leave a message even if you aren’t available. On the other hand, your prospects have the same power. They can just as easily ignore your phone calls or hear your message and choose not to call you back. Don’t worry - I’m going to outline two important things to keep in mind when connecting with a new prospect. If you embrace these ideas, you’ll be left with a tool that you can leverage...not one you have to battle.