Anyone in sales knows it's a tough old business, now maybe more
so than ever.
Here are 5 tips that will help you or your team excel.
Know what you are doing:
The first thing to do is to really understand how to sell. Understand the processes and how they relate, or need to be adapted to fit your product or service and the way that your prospects buy.
Unless you completely, and consciously, know what you are doing, and maybe more importantly why, you will not be able to proactively develop your skills.
Keep good records:
If your company provides you with a CRM system USE IT! In fact don't just use it, find out how to use it to drive the sales process not simply record what you have done.
If your company doesn't provide you with a CRM system invest in one yourself. You can find great cloud based CRM's for less than £10 per month. Most offer free trial periods.
Look for one that focuses on what you are going to do next, not what you have just done.
Plan, plan, plan, Action!
Work with your sales leader/manager to develop your individual sales plan. If you don't have a manager then do it yourself.
Who, when, how, why, how often, how much... then when you know precisely how you are going to over achieve plug it into the CRM system and then stick to the plan.
Don't opt out when it gets a bit tough. Don't spend good selling time researching, don't find excuses... Work the plan! (but review and adapt as needed)
Make sure you are deliberately uncomfortable for much of the time:
If everything you are doing is well within your comfort zone then either a: your role simply isn't challenging enough b: you are not challenging yourself or c: fear is controlling you.
Plan in (and plan FOR) the difficult meetings, the telephone canvassing sessions that you have avoided etc. Comfort zones expand but only when they have some pressure applied to them.
Experience shows that when skills, abilities and reward structures are similar those most likely to succeed and excel are those who challenge their comfort zones the most often.
Take responsibility for your own "atmosphere":
It is the duty of your employer to make sure that where you work is fit for purpose, safe, warm etc. It is absolutely in your employers best interests to make sure that the environment suits the roll you are tasked with, but I still often visit businesses where a telesales person (or team) is stifled by, for example, design or accounts people asking them to keep the noise down so they can concentrate.
What isn't the responsibility of your employer is your motivation. It's up to you to create the "atmosphere" that you want to work in, and that will get the very best out of you. Great managers and leaders will recognise when you need help in this are and may contribute with competitions or campaigns etc but if you and your colleagues take responsibility and behave in the way that you want the department to "feel" you are a long way towards success.
