sales tips & articles

Want to increase your sales and grow your business but worried you will come across as a pushy sales person? Not sure what to do or where to start to ensure your business is a success this year? The key to success, particularly in sales, is planning ahead and always be willing to try something new.

1. Review the previous year

Did you make enough money? Did you reach your goals? Compare your sales month to month. When were the good times and when were the quiet times?

2. Learn from your successes and your failures

And reinforce the actions and tools that generated results and those that didn’t. Maximize the good times and minimize the quiet times

3. Know who and what your best source of business is

Was it client referrals or word of mouth and if so, who were your best referrers? What networking events generated the greatest amount of business or provided the best opportunity to meet your target market? How many enquiries were generated from your website?

4. Develop a sales target

Takes into account your personal and professional goals and ask “how will this be achieved?”

5. Improve your sales and business skills

Not just your Industry and product knowledge. If you would like your business to change and grow, how will you and your staff need to grow and change?

6. Know your target market

Create a profile of your ideal client including what they care about, what challenges they face or what they would like to improve. If you know what you are looking for it’s easier to find them.

7. Ask for referrals

Tell your clients and your business network what type of clients you would like to work with and ask them if they know anyone that fits that description. Reward those clients that send you successful referrals.

8. Up sell your existing clients

How many of your clients know about all of your products and services?

9. Increase your networking activity

Expand your contact sphere and go out and meet more people. Networking can be the best form of advertising for your business because you are the promoting it.

10. Follow up, follow up, follow up

The last and most important point. So many sales are lost simply because no one bothered to follow up. It’s not about being pushy and arrogant to get the business; it’s about helping that client make a decision that will benefit them in the long term.

This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.

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Objections are simply reasons or concerns that a prospective client has as to why they won't make a decision when you want them to. You will hear statements such as:

• Sounds good, let me think about it
• It sounds great but not just yet
• We do this already
• We don’t get any complaints
• Our reps do that
• I’m really busy at the moment and just haven’t had a chance to look at it
• I need to speak to my partner before I can make a decision
• I’ll have a look at it and get back to you in a couple of weeks.

There are many reasons for objections and they are not always negative. Objections are a great indicator and qualifier as to whether you will get the sale - depending on how you handle them at the time. The best way to avoid objections is to ensure you ask the right questions in the first appointment that uncovers your prospect’s real need. This ensures that you are making the right recommendation and can talk about the related value and benefits this solution will address.

The more work you do up front understanding their needs and what they would like to achieve, the less you will have to deal with objections.

Firstly, hear them out don’t interrupt or try and answer their concerns before they have a chance to finish. When they have finished, acknowledge the concenrn by saying "I complete understand how you feel. Some of my best clients felt that way also" or “I completely understand how you feel, this is a big decision and it makes sense for you to think about this."

Secondly, you need to be sure that the objection they give you is 'really' the reason and if you provide a solution to that problem, they agree to buy from you (this way it's a win/win).

For example: “The Price is Too High”

“I understand you might feel that way. If you don't mind me asking, if price wasn't an issue or we can agree on a price that suits your budget, do you feel this is the right solution/product/service for you?  or  “if we can agree on price, is this something you could order today?”

Additionally, if they seem reluctant to move ahead, keep asking questions to find out why. You might say something like:

• “Is there something else we should talk about?”
• “Is there anything else I can do to help?
• “What needs to happen before you’ll be ready to make a decision?”
• “Can you tell me what your hesitation is?”
• “When do you think you will have a chance to look at it?”
• “If I don’t’ hear back from you by Friday, would you mind if I give you a call?
• “A couple of my clients thought the same thing, would you be interested in speaking to some of our clients to see what difference we are making to their business?

If the customer is willing to move forwards but at a slower pace, you can propose a lesser commitment than the one you originally asked for. Try to get the best commitment that customer is willing and able to make that day.

If you can’t get a customer to make a decision or commit to a next step, try to get a date by which a decision or commitment will be made.

Reminder:

The notes you made on the first appointment will be critical to the objection and closing process and I strongly recommend you have those on hand for each meeting with the prospect. These notes give you the ability to remind the client of the benefits they were looking for by implementing your product or service as well as other information such as problems and challenges that they were hoping to reduce or remove altogether.

This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.

If you liked this article, subscribe to our monthly Sales Success ezine. You will learn...

* Easy ways to increase your sales and grow your business
* Simple strategies to sell yourself, even if your not in sales
* How to generate sales easier and quicker!

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Many people in business and in sales find discussing price very confronting and very uncomfortable, yet it' one of the most important aspects of the sales process and can be a significant indicator as to whether you will be successful in winning the business. Whether you prepare a written proposal or a simple one page quotation, whatever you do, don't try and avoid discussing the number that is on the page or skip over it onto something else. It's is one of the most significant factors that influences the buying decision and you want to make sure that your prospective client understands what tangible and intangible benefits they are getting for their money.

I have compiled a list of tips that will help you win more sales and to win them quicker but also to help reduce any anxiety or discomfort when talking about price.

1. Avoid nasty, uncomfortable surprises when the price is discussed or when you ask for the business. Before you start discussing the proposal, ask if anything has changed since your last meeting.
2. Insert a “Current Situation” or “Executive Summary” to the beginning of your proposal. A short summary of the first meeting to demonstrate your understanding of the business and what they would like to achieve
3. Where possible, present your pricing in person rather than sending via email. It may seem like a waste of time but it gives you the ability to read an immediate reaction to your proposal and your price. It also saves you the time and hassle of having to phone them later and ask if they would like to proceed.
4. Take a copy for each person in the meeting, however, have ONE copy that is not stapled or bound.
5. Present one page at a time to the person or the group, taking the time to reinforce the key points in each section. This allows you to talk about the value you can offer and the benefits of dealing with your business, before it gets to price.
6. Close the sale. Don’t let the opportunity go by because you feel pushy or are worried they might say no. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Besides, they might have been meaning to call you but have been caught up.
7. If you are uncomfortable asking for the sale, use an Assumptive Closing technique. For example: “to get started all we need to do is” or “if you could send over the files, I can go through them” or “I’m free on Wednesday, if that works for you”.
8. Read a book on Body language. Having the ability to read a person’s reaction through their body language is very useful when presenting pricing and negotiating. You can immediately see a positive or a negative reaction to the price.

This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.

If you liked this article, subscribe to our monthly Sales Success ezine. You will learn...

* Easy ways to increase your sales and grow your business
* Simple strategies to sell yourself, even if your not in sales
* How to generate sales easier and quicker!

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Typically a cold call is the process of approaching prospective customers (called prospects) typically by phone but it can also be done face-to-face (via door knocking). The term 'cold call' is used because the person you are contacting has not asked you to call, is not expecting it and is not known to you.

Cold calling can be a legitimate and successful way of generating new business, if it is done correctly and professionally. This article refers to 'business to business' cold calling to generate an appointment rather than make a sale over the phone.

1. Use a friendly, conversational approach rather than a cold, direct approach.
2. Don’t try and sell on the phone; you can’t. You can, however, get a meeting or permission to send information.
3. Talk about how you can help that business or how you have helped other business. Don’t try and sell to them.
4. Name other clients that you are working with who are in a similar industry or who are a similar size to the company you are calling.
5. Set a goal for each phone call. Would you like contact information, a meeting or permission to send information.
6. Write down all the possible objections that you are likely to encounter and have an answer ready for them.
7. Target a particular Industry at a time so the script can be adapted and modified to their current situation, challenges or problems they may be experiencing.
8. Always treat Assistants, Personal Assistants and Executive Assistants with respect; they have the power to get you in or keep you out.
9. If you get through to the right contact and they sound busy or harassed ask them “is now a good time to talk?” should I call you at a later time?
10. Make your calls from 9.30am to about 11.30am and then start again around 2pm and go through till 4pm.
11. Set yourself a call target rather than a time target, it makes it easier to achieve.
12. Don’t leave messages; it is rare that anyone would call you back.
13. Ask or appeal for help rather than just going straight into a spiel.
14. Don’t be fooled into thinking that a person asking you to send information means they are interested...they are simply trying to get you off the phone!
15. If you send information by email make sure you follow it up the next day to confirm the person received it. This gives you the chance to ask them if they have any questions and gauge their interest in meeting.
16. Try and do your calls in a block of time, one after the other, after the other. After you have finished 10 calls, for example, then send out information or do follow up. This saves you reliving the ‘fear’ or the ‘pain’ of picking up the phone. After about 3 or 4 calls you will have established a habit and you will be much more confident.

This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.

Stand out from the crowd when you cold call with our Do-It-Yourself Guide to Cold Calling.Click here for more information.


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Questioning or probing as it is also known, is most of the most important skills you can learn when dealing with customers and one of the most powerful. The ability to ask questions that uncover important information about a customer’s needs, current supply and willingness to change is a strong characteristic of a ‘consultative’ sales approach.

Most importantly, when you ask great questions it can help you to win new business much quicker and with fewer objections. When we help prospects to think about the needs of their business and to really think about current or potential problems or challenges they may face, they start to see us differently and understand the value we can add to them or their business.

There are 2 common types of questions you can ask: ‘open’ questions and ‘closed’ questions:

1. Open questions usually result in longer answers and are aimed at getting your prospects to think about the answer.

For example: “What plans does the organisation have to achieve...”

2. Closed questions can be answered with a yes, no or one word and are used to qualify the response to an open question.

For example: Do you have any plans at the moment?

The challenge in questioning is to ask more open than closed questions as it is easy to fall into ‘interrogation mode’ by asking lots of closed questions rather than a few strategic open questions.

Over the years I have met many people who are looking for help to close sales quicker and/or easier and the first thing I ask them is “what happened in the first appointment”, “what needs of the prospect are you meeting” and “why would this prospect want to buy your product or services?”

When we discuss their questions they are usually very surprised to find out that they are asking the same stock-standard questions that most people ask and they typically aren’t that interesting either. Imagine how repetitive and un-interesting it is for your prospects to be asked the same questions over and over again?

Ask yourself, “are you asking questions that all your competitors are asking or are you making your prospects think?”

Here is a quick test you can take to see if you are asking the same questions as your competitors or whether you are making them think. In your next appointment:

1. Does the prospect start to give you a summary of the information you need before you have the chance to ask any questions?
2. When you do ask a question, does the prospect answer it relatively quickly or do they take a moment to think about their answer?
3. How often do you hear your prospects say “that‘s a great question, I hadn’t thought about that?”

As I said, asking great questions isn’t easy but once you start you will really notice the difference in your appointments. Spend 5-10 minutes before your next appointment thinking about the questions you will ask and write them down so you don’t forget them in the meeting!

Here are some to get you started:

1. How will these issues impact the organisation in the future?
2. How do they impact you?
3. What do you look for in a potential supplier (or partner)?
4. What do you like about your current supplier?
5. What do you like about them?
6. Is there anything that you don’t like?
7. What would make you change suppliers?
8. How would you like to see it working (perfect world)?
9. What is your decision making process?

If you liked this article, subscribe to our monthly Sales Success ezine. You will learn...

* Easy ways to increase your sales and grow your business
* Simple strategies to sell yourself, even if your not in sales
* How to generate sales easier and quicker!

Enter your details at the top of the page or click here


This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.

Is it just me or is 2009 going to be the biggest and best year yet?

Despite what is being reporting in the media and what we are seeing overseas, many of the people that I’ve spoken to recently are extremely motivated and confident that 2009 is going to be their best year yet (including me).

So if 2009 is going to be your best year yet, now is the perfect time to sit down and work out what you want to achieve and what you need to do to make this happen.

I believe that the businesses that adapt and change and invest in the development of their people will continue to succeed in 2009. There will be ‘pockets’ of opportunity in the marketplace that you may not have dealt with or thought about before so, get some outside help and develop a strategy to know where these are and how to find them.

Additionally, in some sectors there will be reduced demand, less opportunity to sell and increased competition so it is extremely important to ensure that you and your team have a consistent prospecting and lead generation strategy in place.

Salespeople also need to adapt and change. If you are working in sales and have targets to meet, have you thought about how you are going to achieve them? Do you have the right attitude, the right skills and the right approach to be successful? Business plans aren’t just for business owners, they are extremely useful tools for salespeople as well; they are a roadmap to success. It can be as simple as a one page plan that outlines your goals, your daily or weekly plan for prospecting and business development.

So don’t just sit back and see what the year will bring use the tips below, take action and be in control.

1. Be a leader. Don’t get caught up in the negativity or gloom and doom, instead, be inspirational and motivate your team to success. Remember 2009 is going to be your best year yet.
2. Take time out and get some ‘headspace’ to work on your sales strategy. Will you need to change your target market, the type of clients you work with, marketing activities or the way you sell to win new business?
3. Take this opportunity to make changes so you can readily adapt and respond to changing market conditions.
4. Identify skills gaps or weaknesses in you and your team and provide the necessary training, coaching or mentoring. People are the key to success and with fewer opportunities to make sales and increased competition, ensure your team is equipped with the right attitude, the right knowledge and the right skills.
5. Look after your customers because if your not, your competitors soon will be. Pick up the phone or arrange meetings with your clients to discuss their plans for this year and what they will be doing to ensure success.
6. Communicate with your team. Hold regular staff or sales meetings to discuss changes in the marketplace and brainstorm ways to overcome them.
7. Increase accountability. Review staff performance both weekly and monthly to ensure everyone is focused, on the right track and most importantly is building the sales funnel.
8. Be seen and heard. Increase sales and marketing activities so the market can find you and get out and network, network and network.

This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.

If you liked this article, subscribe to our monthly Sales Success ezine. You will learn...

* Easy ways to increase your sales and grow your business
* Simple strategies to sell yourself, even if your not in sales
* How to generate sales easier and quicker!

Enter your details at the top of the page or click here

It’s difficult to ignore the news of the financial crisis that is occurring around the world and the fear and uncertainty that it is creating. Here in Australia many companies have been tightening their budgets and reducing their spending over recent months and it looks like it’s going to continue. So what does this mean for those of us running businesses or working in sales?

To me it means choices. You can:

1. do exactly what you have been doing in the past and hope that it works
2. admit defeat and tell yourself there is nothing you can do, or
3. sharpen your sales skills and see it as an opportunity not a threat

Opportunities, at a time like this? Yes because situations and events create opportunities.

It’s times like this that many businesses are open to discussing other options and some may even need to evaluate current supplier relationships. It’s a great time to get back in touch with old prospects, find new prospects and to spend time with customers to ensure they are indeed satisfied and happy with your product and service.

No matter how bad the economy may or may not be, people and businesses still have problems that need to be solved and they will still need help to solve them. Sales may slow but they aren’t going to stop.

Here are some ideas on how you can increase your sales and maintain your client base:

1. Maintain or increase your marketing, it’s important to remain visible.
2. Re-focus your sales team and talk about the opportunities.
3. Re-contact prospects that have been called over the past 12 months.
4. Pick up the phone and talk to your customers.
5. Work on your selling skills, particularly your questioning. Make sure your asking the right questions e.g. “Why do you think that?”, “What impact will that have”.
6. Dig deeper and uncover the real need or buying reason. “We need to improve productivity by 5%” is not the real need. Asking “why” will start to uncover the real reason.
7. Improve your listening skills and be an active listener. If you receive a response that is vague or you’re not sure what it means, ask questions.
8. Focus even more on the needs of your customers and your prospects.
9. Stay positive, it will rub off on everyone around you.

Remember, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going and the rest will just complain”.

Which one will you choose?


This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.

If you liked this article, subscribe to our monthly Sales Success ezine. You will learn...

* Easy ways to increase your sales and grow your business
* Simple strategies to sell yourself, even if your not in sales
* How to generate sales easier and quicker!

Enter your details at the top of the page or click here

It’s all about planning and preparation

It’s amazing how many sales people and business owners I talk to who under-estimate the value and importance of planning and preparing for a first appointment.

In the early days of my sales career making this change had the single biggest impact to my sales success. Besides, there is nothing worse than leaving an appointment without having the information you require simply because you forgot to ask the question.

The objective of the first sales meeting is to build rapport with the buyer and understand not only their needs but the priority of these needs.

Planning your appointments and taking a strategic approach helps to:

• Reduce the chance of surprises in the appointment
• Create a more professional impression
• Increase the likelihood of achieving objectives, and
• Reduces stress

Take a couple of minutes prior to every appointment and think about:

What value are you offering your prospect by having this meeting? What’s in it for them?

What would you like to achieve in this meeting (keeping in mind it is often difficult to close the sale in the first meeting)

What situations or events are occurring in their business or industry that could create an opportunity for you?

What ‘high-level’ questions will you need to ask to uncover their needs, current problems or areas they would like to improve? For example

“What has prevented you from addressing the problem before and what has changed now?”
“What would be the consequences of not dealing with the problem at this time?”

Are there likely to be any objections or reasons that the prospect may not be interested in pursuing any further? If so, what can you say to overcome these objections and move it to the next stage?

Having a list of pre-prepared questions written down in front of you keeps your appointments effective and efficient, for both parties. Many of you may think this makes you look unprofessional, however, in my opinion the opposite is true. It makes you stand out from the crowd and shows the prospect how serious you are and how important this appointment is to you.

Explain at the beginning of the appointment, the reasoning behind it; that you don’t want any pertinent information to be missed or forgotten.

Having these questions written down will also help to:

• Improve your listening skills. You give the prospect your undivided attention because you don’t have to worry what to ask next.
• Keeps the appointment flowing in the direction you want and keeps everyone on track. Particularly if the conversation or prospect goes off on a tangent.
• Obtain all the key information you need to move to the next step.
• Keep you focused and stop you from “selling” too early in the appointment

As they are talking, make notes and highlight any ‘hot buttons’ or ‘key points’ separately that you will need to go back to. Do not interrupt and start ‘selling’ until you have finished asking all your questions, even when you hear something you know you can fix or when pressed by the prospect.

Interrupting stops the train of thought, stops them from sharing further information and stops you from getting a complete understanding of their needs and their priority of these needs.

When you have finished asking questions, go back and clarify anything that you need further information on to ensure your complete understanding. In addition, paraphrase the buyer's concerns to indicate your understanding, and clarify the problem that needs to be resolved. For example;

"So what you would like to do is improve the conversion rates of your sales team so all members are consistently meeting their budgets, is that correct?”

Once you have a complete understanding, you are ready to move to the next stage.

This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.

If you liked this article, subscribe to our monthly Sales Success ezine. You will learn...

* Easy ways to increase your sales and grow your business
* Simple strategies to sell yourself, even if your not in sales
* How to generate sales easier and quicker!

Enter your details at the top of the page or click here