High Impact Teams are always looking for ways to improve. With these 12 ideas for getting better selling results, your team will be well on its way to selling success!
1. Your attitude affects your magnitude.Your attitude is how you feel and what you exude. Your attitude is a choice. DNA has nothing to do with it. It’s been said people who smile are happy. People don’t smile because they’re happy… people smile because they’ve chosen to have a good attitude.
2. The biggest Rolodex always wins… if it has the right names and contact information. If you have a network, keep it informed. The bigger your network, the greater your influence. Tired of calling the same people over and over again? Don’t have any new prospects? Sounds like you’re “Notworking” instead of “Networking.” Break out of your comfort zone and find those clients!
3. Decisiveness makes you proactive. Always seek to achieve maximum results in minimum time. Decisive people don’t have pending decisions. They have clear desks and minds that are focused. Being indecisive can cost you the game!
4. In business, what gets measured gets done. Determine the critical measurements for your business and stay focused on them. Are the numbers falling? Figure out why and fix it. Are they climbing? Figure out why and keep at it!
5. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression. The first seven seconds is all it takes. People are judging you – that fast. Be ready. Your “image” should say: “Professionalism, customer focus, and added value.”
6. Forget time management. It’s all about self-management. The balanced person has six dimensions including:
• Family,
• Financial,
• Spiritual,
• Self-development,
• Physical well-being, and
• Social/Community.
Suggestion – make your calendar the centerpiece for your life. If it’s important – put it on your calendar.
7. What every salesperson should know about his / her potential clients.
• Their business,
• Their responsibilities,
• Their challenges, their priorities,
• What they like most about the products they’re using,
• What they would change, their decision criteria,
• Their decision-making process,
• How they measure new supplier success, and
• What it would take to be their best supplier.
You’ll have to ask the right questions to get the right answers.
8. Skill sets for the 21st century, professional salespeople. Do you have all of these? If not, you’d better freshen up! Analytical skills, problem solving, teamwork, delegation, win-win negotiating skills, Internet skills, networking skills, presentation skills, telephone skills, and you’re not going to believe this one – selling skills.
9. Get a mentor. A wise and trusted counselor. You might also want to create your own personal board of directors and seek their counsel periodically. You’ll definitely want to hang around people who are brighter than you, and also devour good books. Both will expand your horizons and boost your creative juices.
10. Make every day a masterpiece by planning it. You need pencil and paper. You also must know how to prioritize. Only one out of 81 business people begin the day with a prioritized “To Do” list. Do you? If you’re not following up on leads, and things are slipping through the cracks, you probably need to set your priorities and be more focused. When you make the right changes, you’ll be amazed at how great each day can be.
11. You can’t take the one-size-fits-all approach. You have to add value to your selling process. Being better means being different. What do you personally do that specifically differentiates you from your competitors? How do you specifically add value to your customers’ business lives? Communicate those things to your prospects so they understand how special and unique you are.
12. It’s not about being busy. It’s about results. Focus on outcomes. Set personal and professional goals daily, weekly, monthly, and annually… and do it in writing. Goals will help you achieve the balance in life that you seek. Seek it, and you’ll find it. Most people don’t expect to be really successfully, and they’re not.
Katherine Graham-Leviss is the founder and president of XBInsight, a state-of-the-art talent assessment company that gives executives the actionable information they need to make smart people-decisions. She is the author of The Perfect Hire: A Tactical Guide To Hiring, Developing and Retaining Top Sales Talent and High-Maintenance Employees: Why Your Best People Will Also Be Your Most Difficult…and What You Can Do About It.