Looking to land more accounts? Who isn’t? While there is no fool-proof formula for success, there are strategies you can adopt right now to increase your opportunities and leverage your sales abilities. Here’s the advice sales expert Jeb Blount of SalesGravy.com, gave to attendees of the sales and sales management education track at this year’s convention:
10. There is no magic closing pill. Closing is a matter of solving another person’s problems. Start listening to what your clients do, and find solutions to their needs. Remember: people don’t buy your product – they buy you.
9. Fanatical prospecting. Successful al portfolio, truly successful sales pros have a balanced prospecting regimen and daily activity. Don’t just prospect at the end of the month – do a little bit every day to fill your pipeline and ring up sales. If you don’t fill your pipeline, you will not succeed.
8. The more you need something, the less likely you’ll get it, or the “Universal Law of Need.” It’s an all too familiar scenario: A sales rep, under quota for the month, presses too hard, appearing desperate to prospects. “People love to buy, but hate to be sold,” reminds Blount. “When you’re desperate, you forget about what others need, thinking only about yourself.” Avoid this by prospecting every day and keeping your pipeline full.
7. Give value first. Show the customer how you can solve his problem – before talking price. No matter how common the problem, people will always believe theirs is one-of-a-kind. Problem solvers are champions of the business world, and customers feel loyalty to those that help them. Show customer how the solution will create value, and they’ll buy.
6. Be strategic with complex accounts. All accounts are not the same. Likewise, not everyone can sell complex accounts. Start at the finish and work back. If you have the wrong person working the account, they miss steps in the process and don’t answer the who what where and how of the deal. If you start at the end, you can also learn if that’s the account for you.
5. Build your personal brand. Customers buy you, or more importantly, your brand.
Become an expert; know the product you’re selling from top to bottom. Reinforce your credibility through a professional online profile for a consistent branding message. Write about your expertise on your website, start a blog, and issue press releases that tout the product, your company and your ability to solve problems.
4. Manage your time and territory. There are only so many hours in a day to close business. Position your resources to get maximum return on investment. Bad sales people spend their prime time on things that have nothing to do with closing. Adopt a CEO mentality – CEO’s deal with scare resources and so should sales people.
3. Stop having “great conversations.” Time an again, you’ll hear sales people say that even though they didn’t convert, they had a “great conversation” with the prospect. Gain commitment at each step. “If you have a good conversation, ask for the next step and schedule it,” advises Blount. “If they won’t schedule, it’s probably time to move on.”
2. Spend time with prospects and customers who are going to buy. You can be the best closer in the world, but if a customer isn’t going to buy, you’ll never close. How do you know? Determine their ability to buy – what’s their budget, when do they buy, are they currently in a contract? It’s best to deal with qualified prospects and start your day off right – you’ll feel good, boosting your chances for success.
1. Ask. Ask for the business. You don’t have to be pushy to ask, according to Blount. “If you’ve done everything you’re supposed to do, just say, ‘let’s get you started’. Just ask. It’s simple.”
To learn more, visit www.salesgravy.com
