Dear Salesperson,
You might call yourself something else, like Account Executive, or BizDev, or Client Representative. There are many names for a title that is responsible for bringing in revenues to the company.
No matter the title, if you were hired to bring in sales and grow revenues in the company this post is for you.
Sell something today.
Stop wasting time on too much research. You need to research, but you have to learn how to do it more efficiently.
Start making phone calls. You know how you send out emails and don't get a reply, so you send more and don't get replies? Instead, pick up the phone once you don't hear back from a buyer, and leave some added value at the other end of the line.
Yes, to add value, you will need to do some online search, but not that much - not as much as you are doing now.
Make more connections with those who are potential buyers and move your conversations forward.
Get a next action. If your buyer says they will wait until September to buy, find out what is behind that answer and set a next action with them so that you will be on their mind when it is time to buy.
Create enough sales-related activity so that you can leave the office today feeling like you DID work on activities that will lead to more revenues. That is the name of the game, and when you are in a sales role, it is your job to do this.
Block out times in your calendar where you go full-focus on lead generation, follow-up and follow-through.
Forget web-surfing, and attending to personal projects. Start doing that after hours.
Here are some more productivity tips - remember, of all the things involved in your sales career - the one thing you cannot get back is your time. Value your time, and value the opportunity your employer has given you to represent their company's products and services.
Try a 3 / 3/ 3 approach:
Have 3 meaningful conversations with potential buyers today.
Set 3 appointments, webinars, or in-person meetings up to take place in the next 3 weeks.
Find 3 people or companies new to you, who can refer you to multiple sales opportunities - these are strategic referrers.
Reach out to them.
If you leave at the end of the day doing these types of activities daily - (more for some industries and companies) you will see more revenues. If you do have this type of "must do" hustle work ethic and business does not come to closure, then the problem is something else. Just make sure you are not the problem - get out there and work to help a buyer buy today.
Call us if you need help with this - getting you more success is one of our favorite things to do.
Lori Richardson speaks, writes, and trains on sales strategies for B2B mid-market technology front-line sales teams. Why not sign up for our twice-monthly newsletter, “Sales Ideas In A Minute” or the award-winning blog rss feed?