Most sales teams are capable of far greater results without learning one new thing.
Most sales managers are sitting on strategies that would jump sales results.
Most salespeople are not doing half the things they know must be done to earn to potential.
Simply reminding teams, managers and salespeople of things they already know to do, often helps more than trying to pile on more good ideas or better sales techniques.
What good will learning new things do when so much that is already known goes unused.
Here is a contrarian tip for the fastest jump-start of new business in 2016.
Don’t seek to learn new things. Simply remind yourself of the important things you already know you must do, must use and must stop. Focus on those things first for fastest results.
What are sales team sitting on that are better than new ideas?
Stories and impact verbiage: Sad but true fact. Most salespeople and teams I work with have great success stories to tell, yet are not telling them. Have great credibility in the marketplace yet say nothing to communicate this. Have significant benefits clients want yet fail to mention them to new prospects.
Remember all those great things your clients appreciate? How about the examples of value you have created or problems solved? And all those things you could say about how credible you are… the number of accounts, the companies that work with you, the results you get… are you working enough of those things into your prospecting process and initial meetings? Many are not.
Refining where prospecting and sales time goes: All prospects and potential clients are not created equal. Rather than dump more leads into your prospecting or sales funnel take inventory of what you already have and prioritize.
Sad but true fact in salesland. Most teams and salespeople are not selling to potential for lack of effort or sales skills. The major culprit of working way too hard for far too little is misallocation of time to lower-probability lower-worth accounts.
Sadder still is the fact with just a few hours of effort, a few hours, you could be reminded of those pockets which include a disproportionate volume of great clients and revenue. Here is an example and it is not unusual. Worked with a team where 50% of the best accounts were found within just 3% of the potential sales universe. Was that 3% defined and prioritized? No it wasn’t. So much of it was going uncalled and sitting dormant while the less worthy and unworthy were being showered with love and attention. Sometimes you just need to be reminded where your best sources of business are.
Before you start throwing more new ideas and strategies onto the log pile, utilize and solidify what you already know.
Sales results arise from solid sales foundations. For best results solidify your foundation before you seek to build upon it. Focus on what you already know you should be doing. Spend a little time to focus your efforts where it will do the most good. Start incorporating the great stories, result examples, credibility statements and major benefits you provide into your prospecting scripts and sales meetings.
Remind yourself of what you already know needs to be done and do those things first.
That will solidify your foundation and provide the best springboard for new initiatives and strategies at a later date.
