Simple Ways to Improve Your Sales Numbers

Being in sales is a great career. If you have a good product and you earn a commission, you can make fortunes. Add to that, you are not office bound – you get to be out and about, meeting people and entertaining clients. It is a great place to be, as long as you are meeting your targets. And what is great about being in sales is that the sky really is the limit when it comes to earning potential. The more you sell, the more commission you earn. But how do you sell more? What techniques are out there to help you shorten the sales cycles and increase the closing rate?

Here are a few arrows that you might want to add to your quiver to help you do even better.

Dazzle with visual appeal

Nobody likes PowerPoints or being sold to in a formulaic fashion. But you also want to create the impression that you have prepared for the meeting and not just rocked up ready to wing it. One of the best ways to make a good impression is with a video. Nothing too long and fancy, just some smart words, some powerful visuals, and a punchy finish and you will achieve the desired effect. Look for a company that does corporate video production Canberra or Sydney, Melbourne or Perth, there are several quality production houses out there. Find the right one for your budget and whip something out. Clients will almost certainly be impressed.

Listen

Far too often salespeople tend to talk – and talk a lot. The art of good selling is to listen. The adage has it that you have two ears and one mouth and that they should be used in that ratio holds true in sales. Remember, you want to sell people things that they need, and you can only know what is needed if you listen. You cannot pitch a solution that works for you; if you want to build relationships and generate repeat business, then you need to sell something that your client needs.

Show urgency

A huge part of sales is creating a sense of urgency. If you are lackadaisical in your post-meeting responses, be they in terms of email follow-up or telephonic, then that impression will be conveyed to the client. You need to create a sense of urgency and importance around the engagement if you want it to close. Having put it on the radar, do not let it drop off.

Ice to Eskimos

There is a terrible misconception that a person who can sell ice to Eskimos is a good salesperson. This could not be further from the truth. A person who sells ice to an Eskimo is going to run out of Eskimos to sell to very quickly. The measure of a good salesperson is how many clients they are able to retain and upsell. And yes, you absolutely want to be bringing in new business, but if you cannot retain old business and grow it then you are going to be on the sales treadmill forever.