Colleen’s Blog

It’s been an exciting week addressing Sales Leaders from across North America. Here is what I have learned:  1. Money is not the best tool to ensure your team hits quota, accountability is. 2. If your company is consistently not hitting their sales goals, it’s the sales leaders fault. 3. Both preventative and contingent coaching are required for the best sales results.

We're approaching the end of the first quarter of the year. Are you satisfied with your results so far? Regardless if your sales team is way ahead, on pace or behind on the targets you've set, I want to direct your focus to a potential gold mine you're already standing on. In fact, there are countless organizations who will miss their sales targets this year, without realizing that if they took advantage of this gold mine, they could not only make up lost ground, but completely exceed the results they hope to create this year. Don't worry about grabbing your shovels, no physical labor is necessary to tap into and grab the gold that's already waiting for you. Wondering what exactly this sales goldmine is? Enough suspense!

For the most part I have had nothing but extraordinary service while in the UK. These hotel and taxi practices are not difficult to replicate nor are they expensive to implement. They will encourage repeat business and increase profits from referrals. Why aren’t more service providers catering to customers in this way?

The top 10% are like the Heat. They accept responsibility, regroup, refocus, and come back charging. They hit the court / office, make note of what didn’t work and what did, and leverage their strengths. Sure, take a breather after a big loss. Step away from your desk. Go for a walk, lunch, or take an afternoon at the park. But, while you are away accept that YOU lost the deal and only YOU can stage a comeback. Comebacks start only when you take responsibility and then take action.

Often at Engage, we discuss effective communication strategies to use with prospects and clients. After all, in order to be an effective salesperson, learning to communicate effectively is a necessary prerequisite. There’s truly no way around it. However, it’s equally important for you to understand the “client repelling behaviours” which will land you in hot water with your sales results. Both new and experienced salespeople often don’t even realize when they are displaying poor business etiquette to prospects and clients. Don’t get stuck in the same category as these sales reps! In today’s era of mobile and smartphone technology, you are encouraged to take advantage of the many different avenues of communication to get in touch with clients. Texting, Skyping, faxing, emailing, and calling are all acceptable forms of communication when trying to reach your prospects. It’s what you do during the communication process that really matters.

Would you like to speak to more decision makers and close more deals in 2014? You can do so simply by rethinking how you attempt to connect with the decision makers. Most salespeople will generally only reach out via telephone or email, and will give up if they hear nothing back, this is a grave mistake! <-- Click To Tweet In our own studies, we find that the majority of sales deals are lost simply because the salesperson gives up far earlier than they should. Many salespeople decide that they are being proactive by following up once or twice, but the truth is, follow-ups should be part of the standard procedure when reaching out to clients. It is a mistake to believe that you are going above and beyond just because you have called the prospect to follow up. Consider using a mix of the following modes of communication to optimize your chances of hearing back from the client and winning the sale: