Looking to boost sales activity in your organization? Whether you’re a new organization just starting out or a well-established company experiencing a plateau, there are many things you can do to boost sales activity and regain your momentum. The following 5 methods can get you moving in the right direction and experiencing success.
Maybe your marketing campaigns have lost their luster, or maybe you just haven’t had the budget for the marketing blitzes you’ve created in the past. With today’s mobile technology and social media possibilities, you can help your sales reps out by getting some attention for your services and products before they ever start cold calling.
If you haven’t tried using social media to get exposure for your services and products, start building your audience by producing good quality content that is interesting to the people you want to sell to. Put yourself in their shoes and ask, “What will make my life better today?” Post content that makes their lives easier, and people will begin to see your company and sales reps as the authorities and experts they’re looking for. And that will boost sales activity for your organization.
It’s easy to plan a polished and comprehensive presentation, but if your sales reps don’t learn to listen, they won’t have much success in sales. Why is listening so important? When sales reps listen, they learn a couple of important things: what the customer’s true needs are and what concerns or hurdles stand in the way of the sale.
By perceiving the customer’s true needs, your reps can sell them exactly what they need, and this might be different than the planned speech can handle. In addition, when your reps learn to listen for concerns and hurdles, they can overcome these concerns before they derail the sale, thus boosting sales activity for themselves and for your entire organization.
Maybe you’ve learned that it takes four presentations to earn one sale. If this is true, those other three “failed” presentations shouldn’t make you or your sales reps feel like failures. They’re just steps along the journey, and your sales reps gain valuable experience with each one. When one of your sales reps comes back and reports that a potential customer didn’t buy, don’t criticize, or hunt for a reason for the “failure.” Stay positive and remind your rep that he or she did a good job with the presentation, and the sale is just around the corner.
One of the best ways to boost sales activity is to be more efficient with time. Help your sales reps to cultivate good time management techniques like weekly planning sessions, goal-oriented planning, and group scheduling. Remember that just one hour a day used more productively adds up to more than six extra weeks of productive time each year. Think of how six extra weeks could boost sales activity for your organization!
What is the mission of your organization? Could your sales reps answer that question correctly the first time? If not, you need to clarify your mission. In doing so, you and your sales reps will be able to focus on what’s most important and get rid of time-consuming distractions that keep you from achieving your goals. When you simplify your vision, you boost sales activity because your sales reps channel all of their energy and work into the activities that make the most difference to your bottom line. Such focused energy is sure to make a difference immediately.
When you try one or more of the above methods to boost sales activity, you’ll not only notice immediate changes in your sales, but you’ll notice improved morale among your sales reps.
Claire has 4+ years of experience in sales and recruitment. As a Director of Client Services, her main objective is to connect great people to great companies by building strong relationships with both top clients and candidates in the sales industry. She specializes in sales roles of all seniority levels for both enterprise and start-up clients North American wide. When Claire isn't networking with top talent, she enjoys being outdoors, traveling and spending time with friends & family.