The sales department is the engine room of every business. Let your sales performance stall and your company will feel the effects – and fast. That’s why it’s so important to stay committed to improving your sales performance as the market landscape changes and your customers’ expectations evolve.
Here are seven tips that can help you improve your sales performance.
- Know your mission
Before you try to improve your sales performance, you must know your product or service offering inside and out. That extends beyond simply memorising a list of product features. You must understand how your product or service fulfils the needs of the prospects in your business niche, how it will help to differentiate your customers from their competitors and how it will drive their ongoing business growth.
- Prioritise high-value tasks
Don’t jump straight into call sheets without a plan. While the number of sales calls you complete in a day is important, you’ll get a better result by prioritising your daily activities around high-value tasks. For example, taking time to research prospect companies may reduce your call volume, but you’ll likely see a marked improvement in your calls-to-sales ratio.
- Talk to the right people
The biggest resource drain for a salesperson is getting stuck in long calls with the wrong people. Invest some time researching the organisational structure of the prospect company to identify the key decision makers who have the power to sign up new service providers. The company’s website or LinkedIn would usually be good places to start.
- Ask strategic questions
Before launching into a sales pitch, take time to identify and understand the specific pain points and business goals of each prospect. Start by researching what your prospect company does, and who their major clients and competitors are. Then ask open-ended questions about the challenges they face and where they want to be as a company.
- Offer individualised solutions
The most successful salespeople are problem solvers. Now that you’ve revealed your prospect’s pain points and business goals, avoid resorting to a standardised sales pitch. Instead, articulate exactly how your offering addresses their specific needs and how your product or service will directly help them achieve the business goals they’ve set out for themselves.
- Build your resilience
It’s easy to let your enthusiasm fade after a string of less than stellar sales calls – that’s why it’s so important to build your resilience. Think of every ‘no’ as a learning experience and an opportunity to grow. And stay focused on your long-term goals so one hard day doesn’t destroy your positive outlook.
- Track your results
The more insight you can develop into your sales performance, the better your results will be. Set aside a few minutes at the end of each week to track your results. Looking at metrics such as sales by product or service, sales by lead source and revenue per sale will help you identify the sales techniques that deliver the best results.
As a salesperson, you are in the problem-solving business. To improve your sales performance, you must treat every prospect as an individual with a specific set of needs and goals. Align your product or service to these needs and goals to demonstrate return on investment, and you’ll create long-term partnerships that deliver genuine value to your customers.
