I’ll admit it. I am tired of people exclaiming that they can’t wait for 2009 to be over” or that they are hoping for a “better” 2010. Truth is, if you can’t recall one great thing that happened in 2009 or if you find yourself not being able to be grateful for the year at all, you are doomed to have another miserable year in 2010. 2009 was NOT a bad year for everyone. It was NOT a recession for everyone and if you look hard enough you will find examples of companies and sales reps who did success.

One thing that can be sure, is that those who did OK or great in 2009 did so by both working hard and working smart. They also did it by working differently.  A client asked me recently whether sales results can be improved – and sales targets met – even in what some call a “soft economy.” The answer is an unqualified yes. As proven by smart companies such as Mercedes, Apple, Porsche, Nintendo, McDonalds, Hershey – and yours truly at Engage! But first, we have to stop blaming the economy.

 Sure, the economy plays a role in sales success. But it’s only one element, and definitely not the most important one at that. At its most fundamental level, sales performance is about one thing and one thing only: performance. Today’s top sales performers understand that fact, just as they understand that their performance is a direct result of how they demonstrate Attitude, Integrity and caring towards their customers, each and every day.

 Here is a list of all the ways I think you can increase sales in a down economy. Start implementing these ideas today and I know 2010 will be a great year for you.

1. Make 5 more calls. Working a bit harder will improve results
2. Target your markets to those with money. Stop trying to sell to a market that’s broke
3. Revamp your products and offerings to match what clients want right now in your market
4. Have a referral blitz where you ask you best clients for referrals to your best prospects
5. Host seminars in your markets to attract new buyers in a non threatening environment
6. generate leads using targeted direct mail
7. Host a webinar or a series of webinars for an association whose members are your potential clients
8. Write articles for your association newsletters
9. Present a new way to engage with your products – bundles, smaller, or bigger packages that can attract different buyers
10. Have a sales contest focused on activities such as number of appointments, number of calls
11. Have an old client reactivation campaign. Call all the clients who you have not done business with in 122 months or older
12. Have an upgrade campaign. Allow your clients to upgrade to a newer version for a deeply discounted onetime offer
13. Follow up on last years tradeshow leads. With over 80% of leads still reported as not being followed up with there could be some serious gold in those leads….even if they are old
14. Take your manager out to sell with you for coaching ideas on where to improve
15. Aim to fill your sales funnel to 4X quota amount not just 3 times your quota
16. Use testimonials as proof – not just corporate marketing speak –  that you can do what you say you can
17. Hire a student or a telemarketing company to prequalify all the old leads in your database

 This is certainly not an exhaustive list and perhaps one idea here has inspired you to implement something completed different. If that’s the case I would love to hear your ideas. Please leave them as comments so we can help create success for all readers of this blog

Regardless of whether your idea to beat the economy is one of the 17 above, or something different do yourself a profitable favor this week and implement it. You will prosper as a result.

 Dedicated to increasing your sales,

 Colleen

I want to wish you and yours a very Happy New Year. I hope you take some time to think about all the things that went well over the last year and all the ways you can make 2010 even better!

I’ve heard far too many people focus on how tough 2009 was and how challenging it was to grow their business. Well…stop it!

I have no doubt that each and every one of us have something that went very well over the last year. Focus on that.

And don’t forget that in 2010, it is within you to have your best year yet. In the coaching calls with my Lead-Up members, I can tell you that many had their best year ever in 2009. You can do the same in 2010.

Get ready for 2010 and don’t miss out on the special year-end savings for my Sales Mastery
Workshop. You can save over 60% until midnight tonight on this three day intensive event that will arm you with what you need to do and how to do it for your best year yet. You can ready more here: www.engageselling.com/mastery.

Cheers to a great 2009 and the massive potential of 2010. I want to take a moment today with you and acknowledge how amazingly powerful you are.

How you’ve been gifted with sales excellence and how the value you bring to your clients, and your own lives is so transformative! Can you fathom what the world would be without the contribution you’ve made?

As you head into this next week give yourself time to reflect and challenge yourself with these questions:

Are you REALLY playing your ‘A’ game in everything you do, work and play? With all you’ve done is there more you could be bringing – more you could be sharing more value you could be offering, more fun you could be having?

Are you taking time to reward yourself? Make sure that you’re allowing yourself to acknowledge yourself and your accomplishments!

“Accomplishment without Acknowledgement creates Martyrs not Mentors” – Lisa Sasevich

 When you think about the work you do, it’s true that you bring massive transformation into so many lives. I want to honor you today and to challenge you to do your work and live your life to the absolute best of your ability.

Congratulations for everything you have accomplished. I am very proud of you, and will be sure to toast you properly with champagne at midnight tonight!

Colleen

At a recent sales seminar, the participants and I brainstormed ways to better manage their day. The goal was to ensure that proactive, outbound sales prospecting remained the first priority everyday. The team committed to making 9-11 am everyday their “calling time” and came up with the following list of actions to ensure they stuck with their commitments:

1. Print out a list of at least 30 names to call the night before you leave the office, so you don’t have to turn on your computer first thing in the morning (and risk checking email).
2. Make your calls from a meeting room rather than the open cubicle area so other employees can’t bother/interrupt you
3. Put phone on do not disturb
4. Keep cell / mobile device in the car during the “calling time”
5. Have a weekly contest to see who can make the most calls  / appointments and sales during this time
6. Instruct receptionist to put all inbound calls directly into voice mail.
7. Turn off email and web browsers. Only use CRM during this time. If this can be done at the source by IT, all the better!
8. Create your “to do list” or “to call list” the night before.
9. Arrive at work 30 minutes early to get settled before “call time starts”.

10.  Block other employees from entering the sales area during this time with a banner that reads “Do not enter. Earning your salary”!

11.  Send prospecting emails to prospects at the end of the day rather than during the “call time”.

While some of these ideas are fun, some are serious, and some are outrageous, they all work. I am sure you have some ideas to add to the list as well. I would love to have your comments.

At its core, sales success is all about demand generation, lead generation and prospecting. No prospects, no sales. Knowing that, what are you doing everyday to ensure prospecting for new business remains a top priority on your team?

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

With the New Year less than three days away, I begin to shift focus beyond the end of this quarter to what I want to achieve in 2010. If you are like me, you want to make each coming year better than the last. More sales and maybe even a bit more time to relax and do something fun with Chris and Conrad.

With today’s challenging market, it’s not enough to do the same thing and hope results improve – you have to do something different… but what?

For greater sales, it is really comes down to three things: more prospects, faster closes and bigger deals (ideally all three!). Sounds simple but as we all know, the devil is in the details.

That’s why I created my Sales Mastery Workshop. For three days in April, I’ll not only show you what you need to do to increase your sales, I’ll show you how.

From generating leads with Social Media to holding your prices during negotiation to leveraging your current customer list for bigger deals, you’ll leave with a personal sales plan that will make an immediate and lasting impact in your results.

I don’t want you to miss out: until the end of the year (December 31st at midnight), you can attend for our special year-end investment, over 60% off the full rate.

Read More about the Sales Mastery Workshop

Remember that the Sales Mastery Workshop is your chance to spend three intensive days working with me to develop your own personal sales plan using my proven strategies. At the end of this event you’ll walk away with a comprehensive plan and an extensive set of tools and templates, including:

• A written “How to” Prospecting Template that will detail 12 ways to keep your funnel full to overflowing.
• Personalized Social Media for Sales Guide
• A clear and concise Unique Selling Proposition and Personal Values Proposition.
• Your own Objective Handling Workbook to provide answers to the 7 most common questions and objections you hear when selling.
• A customized Qualification Template which will list the key categories of information you must understand to know if a prospect is truly qualified and a real opportunity exists.
• Your own Customer Qualification Questionnaire that is a customized list of questions you will use whenever you engage with a prospect.
• An Advance Qualification Style Template that will help ensure you build trust throughout the sales process and encourage all prospects to share information with you freely – even those that seem the most resistant to talk!
• A customized Presentation Template that details the best way to structure presentation and show that you understand the prospect’s needs and that you are the right decision for them to engage with.
• A Client Retention Template compete with “how to’s” that will allow you to build deep and trusting relationships with prospects and clients quickly and more easily than before.
• A model for Handling Objections that you can use with every prospect and every stage of the sales process that is proven to increase your closing rate on even the toughest clients.
• Customized Closing Lines that decrease closing ratios, including the closing technique Colleen refers to as the “Golden Bullet” – because it works that well!
• A Negotiation Template with customized items for your business that will prepare you to get more and give less, increasing the profitability of each sale.
• 3 Written Action Plans (1 for each day) committing your self to implementation of your new skills the day you get back to the office.