When I first started in sales, I will admit, I struggled. I struggled a LOT. More than I think should be acceptable. My boss sat down with me and went over what he thought I was doing wrong and showed me ways to correct it.
My boss was correct about not reaching out enough, not going the extra mile, and not being as upbeat as I could have been, there was more to it. I knew deep down I was not as knowledgeable and confident about the product as I should have and could have been. Thus, I was not equipped with the proper tools to get out there and sell.
I believe the number one tool a salesperson has when it comes to creating success is themselves. You can have the best boss in the world, but whether or not you ultimately get sales boils down to you!
For me, I took 3 simple steps to get out of my sales slump and increase my level of success.
Step 1: Evaluation: This is exactly what it sounds like. Crunch your numbers. Maybe you're making 75 calls a day when you should be making 150? Or maybe you're calling people every other week when you should call them every week? Other times, you should look at how your are communicating. Are you voicemail messages as effective as they can be? Are you still nervous on the phone? Get over those nerves! Are you not as knowledgeable about your product as you should be? Time to learn!
Step 2: Action Time to correct the mistakes that you found in your personal evaluation! Not calling enough? Make more calls! Not equipped with the proper knowledge of your product? Get that knowledge!
This is key to improving your sales. Aside from fixing the mistakes, you are stepping further outside of your comfort zone. That is good! That means you are evolving as a person and as a sales rep
Step 3: Outcomes Did your changes produce .quantifiable results? Were your sales starting to increase? Are your prospects becoming more responsive? If so, good job! You are on your way to becoming a new and improved salesperson!
Or did it not matter? Are your sales still low? If this is the case, I want to lead you on to step 4.
Step 4: Rinse and Repeat Sometimes the reason for our failures is not as clear, so you may need to take another step back and reevaluate what you were doing wrong. Eventually, you are going to find where you actually DID go wrong, and then you can take the proper actions to rectify that, which will lead you to your desired outcome.
These three steps are an incredibly simple and logical way to not only increase your sales, but to pretty much increase your effeciency at anything you may have a problem with.
Do you use steps similar to this? Do you go in blindly? Or do you have a different method of improvement? Please feel free to share within the comments!
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