It is challenging for inexperienced or new sales professionals to set themselves up to do their best. It is best for the young professional to start practicing good sales practices from the beginning of their career. The next five tips are good for beginners starting out. Also these tips are good for the experienced sales person to freshen up their strategy.
- Focus on making a difference, not on selling your product or service. Your clients don’t care about what you can sell them. They care about who you are and what difference you can make in their organization or themselves.
- Slow down to speed up your sales. Don’t be too eager at the beginning and rush through your sales meetings. It’s not about how many sales you can close in the shortest amount of time. It’s about taking the time to get to know your customers and their needs and selling based on what you find. The better the relationship the better chance of keeping this client for longer.
- Pay the price of admission. Do pre-call research! Don’t use a universal sales pitch when you call on your customers. When trying to schedule a meeting, personalize your message and make sure your message is tailored for the particular client you are calling on.
- Create an account entry campaign. Be patient in your journey to meeting with a decision maker. It will likely take several touches to break through his or her busy schedule. Don’t be afraid to engage multiple channels to reach decision makers. Email, phone calls, direct mail, voicemail, and invitations are all possibilities.
- Analyze your sales approach from your customers’ shoes. What will your customers hear when you call them? Try practicing by leaving yourself a voicemail as if you were leaving it for your customer. If you don’t like what you hear, rework your message until you create something that you would respond to if you were the prospect listening to it.
Great post! I love your first point on making a difference. Too often, we can get caught up in just making the money that we don’t think about how it’s actually affecting someone on a personal level. Great point!