It would be nice if sales automatically popped into your business without you having to think about it wouldn’t it? Imagine, money just pouring into your bank account.
Some people will tell you that you can have “passive income” effortlessly and easily without having to do too much at all.
I hate to burst your bubble but if you really want to see your sales go through the roof you’ll need to work at it!
While I do agree that you can set up “passive” systems and adjust your mindset to allow the flow of money into your life and business, there is a lot more you can do than just working on “closing the sale”.
Here are 5 practical things do implement to start getting better sales results:
1. Make sales a strong focus in your business
Making Sales is not incidental to a business – it’s the oil in the machine! Give it due care and consideration. Set sales targets and measure the results you’re getting.
Keep tabs on the number of leads you get, your conversation rate – from prospect to sale and the average amount of your sales on a daily weekly monthly basis.
Assign the responsibility for Sales to a specific person – the buck stops with them. If you have a team who need to also make sales, hold them more accountable to it. Train them if they’re not confident.
2. Have a specific sales process
Most businesses have haphazard sales processes. What’s yours? Do you have a flow chart with every step mapped out and who does what? More sales are lost from inefficient sales systems than possibly anything else.
Do you have a pre-sales system? What do you send a prospective client before they meet you?
(HINT: it should be something that addresses their fears, frustrations, and desires, NOT your company brochure or “all about me” info. Make it about THEM!
What do you do during the sale? What specific steps do you take to surprise and delight your customer? Elegant Selling is like dancing – you both take part.
What happens after the sale is made? Does the client know what to expect next? Do you have a process for happens next?
What happens when you lose the sale? What do you do? Walk away, blame the prospects and never talk to them again? Or do you hang in there and keep the relationship alive? If you really want this client to start a “nurture” sequence to keep them interested, informed and “learning” your way.
3. Stop being busy and go make a sale
It’s so easy NOT to make sales if it’s not your natural strength. You could look and feel very busy with marketing activities; newsletters, Facebook, blogging – there’s plenty to distract you and make you look busy without being effective.
Face to face time with prospective clients is the only sure way of getting an answer and the most effective way of influencing what that answer will be.
Don’t wait for customers to come to you. Look at your diary right now, allocate some time to make phone calls or set up meetings with people who could actually buy from you – no fudging this one: until your sales improve only invest time with people who can actually say “yes”.
4. Get other people to sell for you – affiliate marketing
You can double, triple even 10x your sales by having other people selling for you.
Have affiliate relationships with other business owners who sell a related product. Set it up so that they get a commission on every sale you make to someone they have referred.
This is a highly leveraged way of reaching out to prospective customers who are not in your network or not on your database. You get a nice warm recommendation from a business friend and the referee feels confident that you will look after them.
DON’T make it all about the money – make sure you are giving and getting the best referrals to ideal clients.
Think of the commission you give to the affiliate as marketing dollars well-spent
5. “Don’t change your act, change your audience.”
I first heard this from Lisa Sasevich, whose father was a world famous ventriloquist.
If you’re struggling to make sales in a crowded market place aim higher, not lower.
If you are confident that the product or service you offer could be of benefit to a different set of customers then adjust your prices and start marketing to a more affluent customer.
It might take a bit of courage to make the leap but start by making a list of all the people and organisations you could be doing business with.
Do your homework! Have some conversations with anyone you know in related industries to find out how to approach that market. Take some action, Google them, make some calls, send some letters and go to events to rub shoulders with these new prospective clients.
Selling didn’t come easily and naturally for me until I started to see it differently. It can be a learned skill and you can actually get to like it. I did! In fact, I like it so much I teach it to business owners, particularly in the Professional Services sector like accountants and lawyers.
[button_4 size=”large” color=”blue” align=”center” href=”https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/paulinebright.com/Elegant+Selling.pdf” new_window=”Y”]If you’d like a copy of my Free e-book “Elegant Selling” CLICK HERE[/button_4]
You’ll learn
- How to Make More Sales effortlessly and easily
- How to write and use Simple Sales Scripts
- How to ask Great Questions and give Great Answers
- How to handle Objections and feelings of Rejection