5 Simply Successful Things to Do Everyday
It kind of mirrors a conversation I had with a fairly new salesman the other day, so I thought I’d share some of the things I told him.
He asked me how I was able to have so much in common with so many different customers.
After a few minutes of thought, I came up with a few things that I do that help me be more successful.
1. Read several newspapers every day. I always read USA Today and 1-2 local newspapers very day to stay current. It keeps conversations going, which can lead to more time with a customer, which can lead to more sales.
2. Observe people at every opportunity. I take time every day to place myself in a position to watch and listen to people. the world is a living breathing textbook. Human behavior and the knowledge of it is a major key to making moew sales.
3. Test and track all sales attempts. If it’s worth trying, it’s worth tracking. I keep copious notes about how customers react to certain situations. I keep track of all the samples I leave with them and how they respond to using new products.
4. Make more calls than you take. If you don’t make phone calls, you’re an order taker. If you make calls, you have a shot a being a salesperson. It won’t make you one, but it’ll be a great start.
5. Start before and work later than your competitors. My customers start early and work late. Their salesman has to do the same thing. My cellphone’s always ready for a call from a customer. I can’t count the number of times a customer has called and said he didn’t think I’d be working yet or still working.
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4 Responses to “5 Simply Successful Things to Do Everyday”
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5 nuggets of gold.
I couldn’t agree more.
The first 2 really tie in to your post about reading and about being interesting.
I would add only one thing: Understand your competitve landscape.
In my experience, being known as the guy who completely understands his industry as well as those of our biggest clients has been as vital as anything else that I do.
This may mean walking away from a potential order because a competitor is better suited, but i’ve always found that that type of insight and honesty gets paid back exponentially.
I agree completely Jamie.
I often steer people towards my competition. It makes me look like someone they can trust and it keeps me from trying to be everything to everybody … which is the surest way to go broke.
Thanks for joining in.
Follow-up is really critical. Much success comes to the professionals who understand the power in follow-up and persistence. If you are really interested in increasing your closing ratio and bringing in more money, you must be a master in the game of follow-up. You must play to win. We may be excellent at picking up the phone to make the initial call, but then what happens? Well, we get caught up doing other things and the lead or contact may simply fall by the waist side. No, no, no, unacceptable unless you truly have time to waist. It’s imperative to work smarter not harder and follow through with follow-up. Here are some success tips:
· Use Outlook or some other tool to systematically set reminders that will prompt you to FOLLOW-UP. Once I make a call I immediately create a task reminder. Inside of the reminder I detail what happened with the call (ie: left a message, spoke with Janey the gatekeeper to butter her up, etc.) and what my next step shall be.
· Set specific time aside to make the follow-up connections
· Practice patience as well as persistence, many sales are not made until well after the 5th call.
One of the biggest mistakes salespeople make is giving up too soon. Keep calling the prospect until you are able to get a firm conclusion. The number of calls should not be limited. If your prospect is properly qualified to purchase your product or service then you must persist. Lots of salespeople believe that once they have called three times they should give up, concluding that the prospect is not interested. Until the contact has given you that conclusion then keep going. Persistence pays well.
Quite often when I finally reach the prospect they say things like, “I’m so glad you called, I was just about to call you.” “I want to apologize for not getting back to you sooner, thank you for your persistence, things have been crazy around here.” Again, don’t be discouraged by the lack of call back. As we know people are overwhelmed and overworked and they may not have the opportunity to call you back right away. Your job is to be results-orientated and see the process through to the end—the sale.
Also, please don’t be fooled into believing that follow-up stops once the sale is made. Remember, you want referrals and repeat customers. You should always be following up and staying connected to your prospect and clients.
To achieve greatness you must aspire to be great. Become a master of following-up. You must set your standards high and make the commitment to excellence. Being the best may require you to move outside of your comfort zone and push yourself, but surely it is worth it in the end.
Thanks for adding to the conversation, Robin.
I appreciate you taking time to comment.
Come back soon !