4 ways to boost sales
I started calling myself a salesperson in 1973. I prospected door to door, but most of my success came from referrals. I had sales jobs prior to that, but that was the year I realized that sales was more than just pushing product and I wanted to get good at it. In 1973, a lot of salespeople in my circles were trying to make $20,000, which, at the time, would have put us in the middle-income quintile. (To give you a feel for 40 years ago, if you earned $50,000 in 2012, you were in the middle quintile.)
Eventually, some of us got better and earned our way into higher quintiles. Back then, I had to approximately double my income to move from the middle to the top quintile. In 2012, I had to almost quadruple my income.
And it's getting worse. The bottom line is that “good enough” may not be good enough anymore. What do your salespeople need to do to boost company revenue and their own personal fortunes? Here are four suggestions:
Focus on the prospect. Young salespeople are too focused on process, product and customer relationship management (CRM). I had a salesperson tell me, "I need him to buy to hit my goal. Plus, they need it. More than enough budget. No reason not to get it." I replied, "Why don't you tell him, 'I need you to buy to hit my goal.' That's what matters most. Isn't it?" The point is that it's not about your process or filling in the CRM application to keep your boss happy. It's about your prospect. People do things for their reasons, not yours. You need to find out what they really are.
Stay in touch with customers. Young salespeople don't develop meaningful relationships easily today. Some of my customers in 1973 also bought when I changed jobs in 1980. Some of my 1980 customers bought in 1986. Some of my customers from the '80s bought in the 21st century.
Make it personal. The “experts” say buyers may complete more than 60 percent of their journey toward a buying decision before they talk to you. I usually didn't have to deal with that 40 years ago. Today, prospects Google you before they call you. If you call them, they ask who you are and the name of your company. They're checking out Google, LinkedIn, your website, the "I hate you" websites and are developing their opinions while they're half listening to you. If they smell “salesperson,” you're dead. If they're engaged in a conversation that they're truly interested in because it's about something that's personally meaningful to them, they'll drive your sales process with their buying process.
See it from their side. Salespeople and prospects are people. They may be impulse buyers or struggle with decision making. They may be open or guarded, assertive or defensive, smart or not, educated or not, racist or not, sexist or not, etc. Each has his or her own beliefs and principles. The prospect doesn't care about the salesperson's side. The only thing that matters is whether the salesperson knows and understands the prospect's side. n
Rick Roberge offers his views on sales on his blog, Selling in the 21st Century. (www.rickroberge.com) This article is adapted from a blog post published on his site last month. Contact him at therainmakermaker@gmail.com.
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