Rev Up Your Sales Engine

February 4, 2009 at 7:45 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Ladies and gentlemen, start your sales engines! The current economic situation may be bleak but improving your core sales skills and competencies will help you to accelerate ahead of the pack and come out ahead at the finish line.

Sure, you’re probably noticing everyone around you putting the brakes on their sales efforts in an effort to protect their status quo. Go ahead and let them. However, who says you can’t buck this negative trend and use these tough times to your own advantage? Follow these tips and put yourself in gear to speed past the competition.

Create a Winning Value Proposition

In tough times, you better have a very clear understanding of what makes you different and better. And, you’ll need to be able to communicate it effectively too. Does your value proposition need refining? Start by writing what your offerings provide in terms of tangible business results. Make them distinctive, measurable, defendable, and undeniably sustainable.

Design an Integrated Sales and Marketing Campaign

Putting all of your eggs in one basket doesn’t work in the hen house, and it isn’t a smart business strategy either! You don’t need to spend a fortune on a campaign when money is tight, but you do need a way to effectively reach out to your market from a variety of mediums. Shop around for new marketing opportunities and don’t be afraid to bargain.

Pick Your Prospects Carefully

Now is the time to target your suspects carefully before you initiate converting them into prospects. Develop your profile of who is qualified for your products or services and keep your sales funnel full of only those who meet these qualifications.

Be Persistent and Patient

Buyers are understandably slower to purchase and more diligent about making decisions these days. Keeping that in mind, you may have to provide that extra amount of effort to help them make the decision to buy from you. There are still plenty of opportunities to get new business. But, if you want to sell to more than just the easy to convert “low hanging fruit”, you will have to utilize “real” selling skills to turn them into customers.

Enjoy the Process

Reaching higher levels of sales competency shouldn’t be drudgery. While it can be challenging, it should be enjoyable. Taking pride in your accomplishments and knowing that you have overcome adversity to find greater success is always worth the effort!

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