Sales Solutions Start with You!

Deadlines are approaching and you don't have enough sales.

You're not getting enough new business.

Your orders are less than what they used to be.

Prospects or clients aren't returning calls as fast as they once did.

What has happened?

You're leaving the same voicemail, sending the same thank you notes, and finding leads in the same places you always have. You're  a veteran. To solve these problem you've tried to do things outside of the box. You're open to new ideas and even tried some suggested by your colleagues.

In the end it is the same results. Things are starting to slide a bit.

Maybe even starting to burn out.

Good salespeople try new ideas. Great salespeople review the basics of what they are doing first to make sure  their foundation of skills are still solid before adding levels of experimentation and analysis.

You don't need to be Sherlock Hemlock like in the example above to see that it is obvious Ernie buried Bert.

Are you making the right number of calls to the RIGHT kind of prospects?

Are you asking the RIGHT questions to qualify prospects and drill down to their core reasons for buying?

Are you getting lazy either physically or mentally?

The road to fixing any sales woes starts with the obvious choice...you!

Look at yourself. Take accountability for your actions. The economy sucks but how come other salespeople are making more money and sales than you? Companies are still buying and needing people, why aren't they buying from you? Before looking at factors like the economy or price, look first at the obvious, you, and see what parts of your foundation do you need to repair. What is solid and what is built on sand?

How and where do you prospect?

How do you qualify prospects? What in your mind makes them qualified?

What questions are you asking, are they appropriate for the industry, area, season, etc.?

What other duties during your day have you allowed to become distractions from what you need to do (email is great at this)?

Are you getting enough rest or relaxation time away from sales to refocus your mind?

What additional training seminars and workshops have you been to lately?

What was the last sales book you read?

When was the last time you practices your pitch with a peer for feedback?

When did you last change up your standard email or voicemail message?

What is the first thing you say to a prospect over the phone and have you said it to colleagues to see if you sound too salesy?"

When was the last time you looked at your metrics? How many calls do you make, how many turn into appointments, how many appointments turn into sales. Average sale? What can you do to improve 10% over what those numbers are today?

If you're in a slump or just want to do better, look at your basics first. If the walls of your selling foundation are wrong, they will tell you much like Bert told Ernie where he was. If you don't look at your foundation and fix it, you'll just keep running into the same problems. Much like Ernie burying Bert and then burying Sherlock Hemlock.

Thanks for reading!

Ev

"A Heck of A Nice Guy"