Five Ways to Succeed in Sales

The sales industry is filled with people who never reach their true potential. Doug Dvorak discusses how sales professionals can take their sales game to the next level.

Successful sales professionals sometimes lose sight of the fact that there is always room for improvement. Those sales professionals who take the extra step and push themselves to the limit are known as the top 1 percent – they have found smart ways to succeed in sales by creatively thinking outside of the box and working hard.

Top performers in the sales industry aren’t just the ones bringing in the most revenue for their businesses; they are the ones setting the standards for everybody else. These top sales professionals are always hungry for more opportunities to succeed.

To reach the top of the ladder, sales professionals must embrace the idea of becoming trendsetters. Success is a lifestyle, not a destination, and if you follow the footsteps of others, you can reach a certain level of success; however, in this competitive business world it takes more than that to reach the highest level and following the safe path will not always take you to the top of the game.

Trends in business are always changing and the ones who are willing to innovate and adapt to the ever-changing landscape of business will separate themselves from the pack.

To find out how your business can set trends instead of following them, here are some smart ways to succeed in today’s complex and competitive world.

Make Time for Creativity

It’s hard to be creative when you don’t make enough time for yourself to let the good ideas flow. Be patient with the process and learn to play around with new ways of doing things. Don’t judge yourself too hard when you are brainstorming new ideas; trendsetters in business are willing to think outside of the box and patient enough to let new ideas grow.

The right work ethic and the willingness to explore new ways to tackle a problem will set you apart from the rest.

Study the Current Trends

You need to know the rules in order to break them. Learn what trends dominate the market and think of new ideas to change the way things are done – read about the latest jewelry industry news, styles and trends; learn as much as possible from the success and failures of competitors; attend webinars and conventions.

Trendsetters are always two steps ahead of the competition because they stay informed and can anticipate critical moves they need to make to stay in the game. Success in today’s demanding sales environment requires a thorough understanding of buying trends. There are countless resources to help businesses gather valuable insights regarding consumer behavior, buying psychology, and current technological trends that can assist sales professionals to develop winning, creative selling strategies.

Learn How Customers Think

Listen to your customer base and understand what works and what doesn’t. Knowing this will help you generate new ideas. Figure out what they need and capitalize on it. Understand what customers are saying and have an honest dialogue with what they have to say about your store. According to SalesForce.com,

[quote align=”center” color=”#999999″]It benefit’s sales coaching professionals and sales professionals to learn how their customers think, learn & buy. Learning from customers will help you to innovate and think clearly about what really needs to get done to improve their business and your own business.[/quote]

Learning from customers will help you to innovate and think clearly about what really needs to get done to improve their business and your own business.

Establish Your Brand

Separate yourself from competitors by learning how to brand your jewelry store effectively and often. Incorporate your brand into every facet of your business so that customers learn to recognize you. Learn your strengths and emphasize them. Establish a good reputation with your customers by developing valuable content. Quality content will communicate your organization’s unique characteristics that will help your brand stand out. Valuable content is not an advertisement; valuable content helps to solve a problem, answer a question or address an issue for the reader.

Build a Great Team

Strive to build a strong foundation by hiring innovative people who will go to bat when needed. Treat your team with respect and motivate them to keep up with new ideas. Inspire your team by holding brainstorming sessions where they can bounce ideas off each other and benefit from open lines of communication. You’re only as strong as your weakest link so it’s important that everyone is on the same page and running like clockwork. Learn to do more with your sales team.

Succeeding in sales today requires that you think outside the box, work like hell and call on a large pool of ideas for inspiration. Salespeople need to be creative, suit up and show up on time every day.

The top 1 percent of professionals forge their own path by exploring new ways to innovate and expand. Learn to stay motivated and hungry by executing goals in a timely and professional manner.

April 17, 2018September 21, 2018

10 Traits of a Successful Sales Person

April 9, 2018February 8, 2019

8 Traits of a Successful Sales Person – Infographic

8 Traits of a Successful Sales Person

Selling can be difficult but developing certain traits can help you improve your sales process and your sales style.

March 27, 2018February 8, 2019

A Three-Step Process to Digitally Transform Your Sales Team

Technology has evolved so significantly in the last 25 years that most people can’t keep up. Keeping up is exactly what you need to ensure you are doing. Companies everywhere focus on digital transformation because it impacts how they make sales. Your sales team must understand the digital process before they can sell products and services. Otherwise, you are bound to lose customers because they want things done differently, more now than ever before. The goal of digital transformation is to connect you with your customers and use a variety of technologies to do so. The three-step process is simple and effective, but you have to ensure that you help your sales team fully understand it and how it can work for them.

The Right Tools

The first step to your sales team becoming digital is giving them the tools they require to be part of the digital age. Almost everyone has cell phones, tablets, and other electronic devices, but you need to ensure that they have one just for company purposes. You may not give every salesperson the ability to scope leads online, but you should have a team (or a few people) devoted to it. They can utilize social media, cloud-based CRM and mobile technology to present your company digitally. Having a great website that is not mobile-friendly is a big mistake today with more than half of the internet being accessed via mobile devices. Keeping up with simple, but extremely important technology updates like this can give your sales team the advantage when push comes to shove.

Appropriate Training

There are specific tools required so that salespeople can transform digitally, but they also need the right training. While they probably know how to operate a cell phone and use it on social media, they may not understand the nuances of selling online. You may also have to invest in a digital sales course to help teach them what social media channels they can use and how to use them to better reach their customers and prospects. Or you might need to teach them the new CRM system and help them understand the changes they soon face. Helping your sales force keep up with technology through training is key to ensuring your sales force is not falling behind.

Automation

The digital transformation of your sales team can’t be complete without automation. Making appointments, creating invoices, and sending emails take up time that your employees don’t have. If you want them to be successful and more productive, automate some of these mundane tasks so that your sales force can focus on what they are good at, getting more leads and sales! By automating some of their workloads through the use of simple automation tools you are improving efficiency.

In the End, You Win!

Staying abreast of these three steps year after year is no easy task. You may need to hire a few people along the way in order to really take advantage of all of the new technologies that emerge in the coming years. If you are able to stay ahead of the technology curve, your company will outsell your competition. The use of technology is a continuous growing culture that should be utilized in your sales company. Word of mouth will spread that your company is doing cutting-edge work and the investment will be a small price to pay compared to your returns. Purchasing from a company that is technically savvy is much easier and often more exciting than purchasing from a company that is falling behind. Don’t be the company that is falling behind!

Related Article: 5 Innovative Strategies to Drive More Revenue

February 18, 2018April 13, 2021

The One Percent Principle in Selling

In this article, we discuss the one percent principle in selling. If sales is a game of numbers, then at times, the numbers can be misleading. For most people, the thought of one percent doesn’t seem like a lot, but when you think about how that one percent difference affects the grand scheme of things, the difference is staggering.

Just 1 percent could lead to 12 babies being given to the wrong parents daily, two unsafe planes landing at international airports hourly, and worst of all 5.5 million cases of beer being produced flat. If you think about the one percent under these terms, that tiny difference in percentages can have huge consequences.

In terms of time, the percentage equals about 14 minutes and 40 seconds of your day and a lot can happen in that short span of time. Adding that much time to your sales day will equal about one and a quarter hours to the week and about 75 hours each year. We often underestimate or overestimate our time and make poor use of the golden hours when customers have the time to speak with you.

The One Percent Principle In Selling

the-biggest-communication-problem The best sales reps keep up with the percentages and how they apply to their selling success. Top sales representatives understand that selling is about equal to 60 percent listening and 40 percent talking. Why? While it is important to inform your customers about your product’s features, benefits, and solutions to their problems. You won’t be able to accurately express these concepts without understanding how you can help the customer. If you’re more concerned with talking and less concerned with listening, then you’re operating backwards. Your objective is first to find out if what you have to offer is right for your customer. If you and your prospect are both on the same page, then chances are, your customer will find value in your product and a sale will be made.

Cut The Fat – How To Condense Your Sales Message

When it comes to talking, it’s important to condense your sales messages down to the most important details. You will save valuable time for you and your customer. The 1% principle essentially means focusing on the customer and not on yourself. If you’re not talking about the most important things, then chances are your rambling about unimportant details. Your customer will see through this and most likely lose interest. How can the 1% principle help you when dealing with customers?

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Develop the ability to frame conversations from “look at how great my product is” to “how can we help each other?” When consulting with customers, try and look at it from their perspective. Understand their needs and objectives. Putting more emphasis on listening, rather than talking, allows you to better communicate with your customers. Better customer communication helps the customer by answering their questions and providing real solutions to their problems.

How The One Percent Principle in Selling Helps Build Better Customer Relationships.

Your ability to successfully utilize the 1% principle during the sales process inherently rests on how well you build a meaningful, trustworthy relationship with your customers. How do you do this? By focusing on how to solve their problem and not so much the details of your product. That comes later when you’ve listened enough to your customer and identified their needs, concerns, and questions.

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When consulting with customers, focus on identifying factors such as:

Why would the customer need your product/service?
What kinds of problems will your product/service solve?
How will it make their lives easier or their business to operate more effectively?

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Utilize The One Percent Principle in Selling to Improve Sales Performance

Small steps can bring on big improvements. When it comes to improving sales skills and training, it can be difficult to refine your sales skills if you spread your focus on trying to get better all in one sitting. However, in order to eat an elephant, you must take one bite at a time. The 1% principle can be a powerful tool for making continuous improvements during your sales training. Sales representatives should put all their focus and efforts into making small improvements, continuously training and learning one inch at a time. The one percent principle in selling provides a practical way of taking on tasks that seem too big to handle all at once.

The Power of Small and Continuous Improvements

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Sales is a game of inches. When you add up those inches and start to focus on making small, realistic adjustments, you’ll be more focused on taking care of the essential aspects of a task or situation. Whether you’re trying to qualify a prospect, trimming down the most important details of a proposal, or looking to improve your sales skills, utilizing the 1% principle in selling can help you to focus on isolating the most important details and making small, 1% improvements toward your goals.

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Author: salescoach