Nearly all of my clients want to grow their revenues. This may be due to stagnant sales with their current customer base, new product introductions, or a real or perceived downturn in their target industry. But let’s be honest—can’t we all benefit from additional customers and sales?
So, to help all of you out, I compiled a list of action you can take right now to help grow your sales.
- Call your customers. Nothing beats a personal phone call.
- Personalize your offerings. Every customer has different needs and therefore may need a unique solution or personalized touch. You don’t have to create a whole new product, but you could customize it so it meets unique needs.
- Educate your buyers about all your products—but do it naturally, not as a one-sided presentation.
- Listen to what your customers are saying. Take the time to understand the meaning behind their words. You may need to ask some checking questions to confirm you understand.
- Offer solutions, even if the solution isn’t something you can sell them. A good salesperson is constantly focused on providing valuable information for their customers because they want them to succeed, not just to make the sale.
- Ask probing questions. Most salespeople get stuck in a rut when it comes to asking questions. How many different types of questions do you use? Have you tried the Best/Least, the Magic Wand, or the simple but extremely effective Tell Me More questions?
- Give them a referral. A warm referral is much stronger than a cold call. And if you know your customers and their offerings, you should easily be able to introduce them to someone who could use their product.
- Ask your current customers why they buy from you. Chances are, the answer may surprise you. Then use that information when communicating to your prospects.
- Be clear on your product benefits—but keep price out of the equation. You never want to sell on price alone.
- Don’t prematurely advocate. If you haven’t taken the time to develop trust and uncover the customer’s unique need, you will probably lose the sale. I like to tell my clients that “we are going to date for a while.” I want to make sure I understand my client’s needs before proposing a solution.
- Don’t make assumptions. It won’t serve you well, even if your assumption is correct.
- Communicate in the buyer’s language, not yours. Your customer doesn’t care about your internal processes—she cares about how it benefits her.
- Manage your time wisely. This is one area that very few people have mastered. (I developed a great process to help you master it—just ask me!)
- Ask for the sale. In order to make a sale, you must raise task tension. It isn’t enough to show up—you must move the sales process forward.
- Ask for a referral. Your current clients love working with you, and you love working with them. I’m sure they have friends or business colleagues who could benefit from working with you.
- Show your passion. People love to work with people who love what they do!
- Express your gratitude for having them as a customer. When was the last time someone did that for you? It felt pretty good, didn’t it?
- Be bold. Calling customers and/or prospects can be a little scary, but not hitting your sales numbers is even scarier. Recognize you are not alone with this fear, and not making the call doesn’t make the fear go away—you just compound it with stress and negative thoughts.
- Develop a sales process with metrics, roles and responsibilities, and goals. This should include leading indicators, not just lagging—i.e., number of sales calls per week (leading) vs new accounts closed (lagging).
- Reward yourself. Selling isn’t easy. It requires discipline, focus, strength, and perseverance. Create some milestones for yourself and take time to celebrate the small victories.
If you need help with any of the above, send me an email, or better yet, call me. My proven process can help every company increase their new account production by 30% in just the first year.