2. Everyone isalwayslookingtoincrease theirsales. Companieswantmore revenue. Salesrepswant
more clients. SalesManagerswantbetterperformance fromtheirteams. The problemis,veryfew
companies teachtheirrepshowtocontinuallyincrease theirsalesnumbers,bringinmore clientsand,in
turn,bring inmore revenue.
Thisleavesthe salesrep,typicallythe low maninthe corporate structure,to wonderhow he can do that
whenhe has saturatedhis territory.
There are manywaysthat he can accomplishthis,butIam goingto letyou inon mytop 7 waysthat I
have usedto increase mysaleseverymonthinmy15 yearsalescareer.
3. Cold-Call
My numberone secretisprobablythe mosthatedactivityin sales,the cold-call. Ican hearit now,
“Cold-callingisdead.”,“Ihate coldcalling.”,“Are youfreakingkiddingme?”. Myanswer,nocold-calling
isnot dead,getoverit, andno, I am not kiddingyou.
The thingis,cold-callinghelpsyoulearninvaluableskillsasasalesrep. You learnhow to deal with
rejection,tothinkonyourfeet,anditforcesyou to know the productor service thatyou are selling
backwardsand forwards.
By cold-callingeveryday,youwill begintodevelopawho’swholistof contactsin yourindustry. Thisis
key. By knowingwhoare the moversandshakersinyour market,youwill be able togetbetteras a
salesrepfasterthan if youjuststayedinyour office andwaitedforthe phone toringor formarketingto
sendovera listof namesof “warm leads”.
Thinkaboutit, if youmade onlytencold-callseachdayand wasable to setat leasttwoappointments
out of those calls,youwill have atotal of tenappointmentsthatare setfor the nextweek. If youonly
close one of those each week,thenthataddsfourextraaccounts. That’snot bad fortakingabout two
hoursout of yourday to cold-call.
4. Get Referrals
Cold-callingisuselessif youare notaskingforreferralsfromeverysingle accountthatyoucall on.
Referralsiswhatwill make yourjobexponentiallyeasier,aswell as,skyrocketyoursales numbers.
Referrals,onaverage,close more often,close faster,andare largeraccounts.
The bestway that I have foundtoget referralsistosay somethingalongthe linesof,“Mybusinessis
basedon referrals. Doyouknowanyone thatwouldbe able to use the servicesthatIprovide?” This
simple phrase hasprovidedaninsane amountof lucrative leads.
Anotherwayof gainingreferralsisbecomingthe gotopersonfor your clientsandtheirnetwork. You
wantto findwaysto become a part of your client’snetworkaswell asthe networkof the people that
youcold-call on. By becomingapart of theirnetworks,youwill be able togetaconstant flow of high
qualityleadsfrombothyourcurrentaccounts as well asthose thatare not currentlydoingbusinesswith
you.
5. Attend Networking Meetups
Attendingmeetupsisanotherone of mysecretsthatI am alwaysusingto continuallyincrease mysales
numbers. The reasonI go to meetupsisnotto findleads,buttofindreferral partners. The peoplethat
are active inthese groupsmaynot needthe productor service thatyouare providing,butwill know
someone whodoes.
The keyto beingsuccessful inutilizingthese groups isalwayslookingforareasonto contribute tothe
group. Thiscan be in the formof sharingyourexpertise andexperience orconnectingsomeonethat
youknowwitha memberof the group. Thisalsomakesyou an invaluableresource toyourclientsas
youcan connectthemwithmembersof yourmeetupgroups.
You can findappropriate meetupsonsiteslike Meetup.com,YahooGroups,andMeetin.org. Eachof
these siteshave asearchfunctionthatallowsyouto specifywhattypesof groupsyouare lookingforas
well asthe city andstate thatyou needthemtobe in.
6. Follow-Up Better
Nothingkillsasale quickerthannotfollowingupwithclientsorfollowingthroughwithwhatyoutold
themyouwoulddo. That beingsaid,nothingwill impressclientsmore thanpromptfollow-up. If you
are following-upwithyourclients,theywill see you,notasa salesperson,butasan advisorand expert
inyour area. You will be developingtrustwiththembecause youare doingwhatyousaidyouwoulddo.
By following-upwithyourclients,italsoallowsyoutoconstantlybe able togeta gauge onhow your
relationshipwiththemisgoing. Thisiscritical,because itwill allow youtobe proactive inthe
relationshipandsolve anyissuesbefore theybecome full-blownproblems. Thiswill save youa
tremendousamountof time andenergy.
Follow-upsshouldn’tjustbe overthe phone. If possible,visityourclientsfornootherreasonthanto
say “hi”and that youwantedto see how theyare doing. Alwaysrememberthis,salesisfirsta
relationshipbusiness,amoneybusinesssecond. Assalesprofessionals,we are here toserve ourclients.
The betteryouserve yourclientsandshow themthe value youbringto themand theirbusiness,thee
easieryourjobwill be.
7. Sell to the Needs of Your Ideal Client
Everypersonhas needs,bothpersonallyandin business. Sometimesthose needsare superficialand
easyto figure out,wantingtosave money,forexample. Othertimesthose needscanbe more
complicated,needingapiece of equipmenttodoa specificfunctionforyourclientforxyzreason. The
questionis,doyouknowwhatthose needsare? Are yousure? How do you know?
Clientsdon’twanttobe soldon anything,theyjustwantsolutionstotheirproblems. Sometimes,they
alreadyknowwhattheirproblemsare. Oftentimes,theydon’t. Itisupto you,the salesrepto findout.
It takesskill,hardworkanddeterminationtositwithaclientandgetthemto allow youto digdeepinto
theirbusinesstofindoutwhattheirtrue needsare. If the clientdoesnotfeel thatyoureallycare about
theirbusiness,theywill shutdownandyoumightaswell show yourselfoutthe doorand move on. The
onlywayyou are goingto gain theirtrustis to askgood,highquality,probingquestions. Askingthese
questionswill helpyouuncovertheirneeds.
Once you knowwhatthose needsare,sell tothem. Make everypointof yourpresentationbe about
those needs. If a personfeelsthatthey are payingtoomuchfor a certainservice,show how your
service cansave themthat capital. If theircurrentvendorisgivingthemhorrible customerservice,
highlightyourabilitytoprovidethatsuperiorservicetothem. The pointis,whatevertheirpainpointis,
youwant to sell tothose points.
8. Sell with a Purpose
Whenyouentera person’sbusiness,whatisthe pointof the call? What are your goalsfor each
meeting? If youdon’twhatyouwant out of the meeting,thenhow doyouknow if youhave
accomplishedwhatyouwantforthat meeting? Toquote LewisCarrol’s classic, Alice inWonderland,
Alice: “Wouldyou tell me,please,whichwayIoughtto go fromhere?”
Cheshire Cat: “That dependsagooddeal on where youwantto getto,”
Alice: “I don’tmuchcare where–”
Cheshire Cat: “Thenit doesn’tmatterwhichwayyougo,”
Alice: “–so longas I getSOMEWHERE,”
Cheshire Cat: “Oh,you’re sure to do that,”said the Cat, “if youonlywalklongenough.”
You needa plan. Everysalesmeetingthatyouhave withaclient,have a plan. Withouta plan,youwill
be more aptto fail,andthe frustratingthingis,youwon’tknow where youwentwrong. Atthe endof
everymeeting,askyouclientwhere theywanttogofrom there andcome up witha goal togetherthat
youall want to accomplishatthe nextmeeting.
9. Return to the Basics
The last secretis,KISS. NowI am not sayingtokissyour clients. Iam sayinguse the acronymK.I.S.S.,
keepitsupersimple.
What I meanby thisisto stickwithbasicsof selling. Whatare the basics? The basicsare as follows:
1. QualifyyourProspects
a. Thisshouldbe done at everymeetingthatyouhave
2. AskProbingQuestions
a. These questionsshouldbe open-endedquestionsthatgetthe clienttalking
b. Avoidclosedendedquestionsatall costs
3. Listen
a. SomethingthatIdo to helpme listenbetteristotake notesandwrite downthe
answerstoeveryquestionthathasbeenasked
b. Write downthe questionsthatyourclientasked
4. Summarize Whathas beenDiscussed
a. Go overeverypointof the meetingwiththe client
b. Askif he or she has anyadditional questions
5. Close
a. Get a commitmentoutof the clientthatmovesthe sale along
i. Thiscan include settingatime forthe nextmeeting,askingthemtogetmore
informationforyou,orgettingthemtoagree purchase
10. There are manywaysto increase yoursales. These are justthe waysthat I have beenmostsuccessful.
Salesislike anyskill,whenyouare justlearning,youwon’tbe atthe topof yourgame. It can take years
to be that “A” playerinyour organization.
If you wantto cut that learningcurve byat leasthalf,or youhave a salesteamthatisn’tperformingat
theirhighestpotential,visit www.zero2sales.com formore greatarticlesonhow to become one of the
elite salesreps. Youcanalso email me atj.murders@zero2sales.com.
