Colleen’s Blog

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?

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.

How long do you typically take to get back to a prospect upon receiving an inquiry from them? Anything longer than 24 hours is too long. Your customers are busy people. By taking too long to respond you’re letting go of an otherwise potentially easy sale.

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 and stagnate? 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:

I talk often about a new performance-management culture taking hold in today’s B2All marketplace. To meet that challenge, not only must selling skills change, leadership skills must evolve too. Your sales manager’s number-one job now is to teach and refine the skills of sellers to help them hit their peak and stay there. So, what’s the best way to make that happen: by simply turning your existing top sellers into leaders? Not so fast!