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8 Killer Steps to Propel Your Sales

No more recession talk. Economies go up. Economies go down. That’s how things work. So pull up our bootstraps and commit to thriving in any economic climate. Accelerate your sales, retain your loyal customers, and attract new business without increasing your cost of sales.

Successful sales pros, business owners, and companies that take charge and compete will win. Traditional indicators have changed, so have traditional responses. Nothing is traditional anymore. What can you do to be non-traditional? Start by following my 8 Killer Steps.

1. Broaden Your Perspective
What business are you in? Redefine and reinvent yourself. Is Starbuck’s in the coffee business or the people business? Build new alliances and consider alternate distribution channels. Don’t go solo. Assemble a group of advisors and get their input and creative ideas.

2. Be Nimble and Innovative
You’ll never have all the facts. Make quick decisions. Be fearless and make tough choices. Create new uses for your products. Why not a new business model? Think on your feet, make smart decisions, and do it.

3. Dazzle Your Current Customers
Your current customers need care and feeding. Don’t ignore them at the expense of new business, because they are your best source for new business. Call your clients. Stay in touch. Offer your expertise even when you have nothing to “sell” them.

4. Prioritize Wisely
The most important activity for any salesperson is to do what’s “closest to cash” the first thing every single day—whether it’s following up with a prospect, writing a proposal, or closing a deal. Most of us get buried in email every morning and surface a few hours later. If you do what’s “closet to cash” the first, it doesn’t matter if other things on your to-do list don’t get done. They’re just not that important.

5. Become the Expert
Companies hire experts because they can’t afford to make mistakes. Position your company as the expert with a specific product or in a specific market niche. This is counter-intuitive: We often think if we don’t mention everything we do, that we will miss an opportunity – the opposite is true.

6. Stay Connected
Network like crazy. Attend a minimum of one event a week. You never know whom you will meet and what you will learn. Woody Allen said that 80 percent of life is showing up. He also said 70 percent of success in life is showing up. Show Up! It counts.

7. Don’t Cut Price
There’s a lot of chatter about cutting price in a lagging economy—businesses are cutting back, they don’t have money for your project. Consider how to “get in and get started.” Divide your offering into smaller chunks, get results, and create traction. If you do decide to adjust your price, always get something in return. Work together with your clients and collaborate on a solution.

8. Commit to Building Your Referral Business
Reach your market without hard costs: no marketing budget, no direct mail budget, no advertising budget, no trade show budget. The only budget you need to worry about is your Time & Referrals Budget. Your time: your time to ask for referrals. There is no line-item cost to referrals.

When a qualified prospect is referred to us, we get a new client a minimum of 50 percent of the time and typically between 70 and 90 percent of the time. The benefits are incomparable:

● You are pre-sold
● Your selling time decreases
● You have credibility
● You ace out the competition

Referral-selling works. There is no other business-development process that can claim these results. Engage these “8 Killer Steps” and propel your business!

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