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How to unlock sales in this economy

“The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph!” - Marvin Phillips

As we enter the final third of 2010 I would like to share five sales concepts that I think are very relevant and valuable for a business trying to unlock sales during the most important sales months of the year:

1. Become a trustworthy and knowledgeable advisor to your clients

There is going to be a trend where your suppliers will want to hunt out and deal with experts to help them. So no matter what it is you sell, what are you doing in terms of building up your reputation within your industry? Are you building your profile in your industry? Have you written articles? You want to position yourself as the “go to” expert.

2. The end of cold calling as we know it

Anyone who still works in a sales environment where cold calling is still used knows how tough it is. Are we seeing the demise of cold calling? Well, probably not, but I do forecast the end of cold calling as we know it. Out goes the enthusiastic, smile and dial approach and in comes a more measured, down to earth and above all, authentic approach.

Your prospects know a cold call when they hear one so just act natural and be honest. It will surprise them and will help to build up the rapport with them because you are being different. And remember once you have built some rapport then the name of the game is adding value and educating your prospect. And don’t just educate on your product or service, but also on the general market and industry.

3. How can you be different from your competitors?

In order to capture the attention of your marketplace you need to be different. How can you do this? Can you remodel your service in a different way? Can you offer something distinctive?

Just by being different can unlock the pathway to growth. You have two choices – be distinct or be extinct.

4. Activity based targets are as important as sales targets

Too many sales people are focused on the actual amount that they need to make that they forget or ignore what measured activities will help them to achieve it.

Smart sales commissions should be linked to a combination of both performance and activity and not just the sales target alone. More effective prospecting leads directly to more presentations; and more presentations ultimately lead to the closing of more sales. A smart tip for sales consultants is – sell for the relationship and not for the commission.

5. Measure everything

The old business adage is that if you don’t measure it then you can’t manage it. One of the biggest problems in many companies and why they continuously struggle is because they do not understand what’s going on in their sales process. More than ever before you need to invest in measuring what you do and how you do it and how it impacts on your sales. The smarter you measure the right stuff, the better you will identify and leverage opportunities.

I hope that these ideas will help your business. I wish you smart selling.