My Week with Top Performers

Sales button pointing the highest position with two fingers, blue and grey tones, Conceptual image for sales strategyor performance

I spent the week with two teams of top performing sales professionals this week. Although I suspect that some of them will fall out of that position before too long. Here are my observations:

  1. Buying behaviour has changed. This is not good or bad; helpful or hurtful. It just is. Ignoring the changes  in your market will not make them go away. You must adapt to continue thriving.
  2. Top performers are intimate with their numbers. They know their conversion ratios between lead to opportunity and opportunity to close.
  3. An opportunity is only a opportunity when you AND the prospect think it’s one.
  4. The best performers participate fully in workshops. They ask questions, challenge each other and provide examples. The poorest performers (and the ones who need the workshop the most) set quietly and do nothing.
  5. If you can’t get the sale, secure the next step.
  6. Excellent prospecting creates excellent sales results. Master this skill.
  7. Sales Acceleration  = Lead Quantity*Pipeline Velocity.
  8. The chances of a serial killer lurking in your LinkedIn feed is a preposterous reason not to accept a connection (and one I heard this week). How can you expect to grow your business if you don’t add new people to your network?
  9. If you fly for business, and don’t have TSA pre you don’t value your time.
  10. Business buyers are informed by the way they make decisions as consumers.
  11. An airport shop that sells hair care/skin care products and does not offer them in travel size is doomed for failure.

Happy May everyone! Enjoy your first long weekend of the summer.