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Competition is fiercer than ever when it comes to sales, in large part because the Internet and digital marketing mediums have widened the playing field. In the past, competition was once limited to the local level or regional level. Now, it is bigger, stronger and you must contend with it at a global one. While this intense competitive environment may seem intimidating, there are smart strategies you can employ to achieve and retain a strong sales record.

1.) Properly Qualify Prospects  

If you think that qualifying sales prospects is not important, consider this: At least 50% of your prospects are not a good fit for your products or services. (1) As a result, 25% of the prospects you spend time working will never buy! (2) The last thing you want to do is waste time and resources on leads that do not stand a chance of becoming customers.

Rest assured, properly qualifying prospects is an endeavor well worth the time and effort. The caveat is, you want to do so in a way that does not annoy your prospects and drive them away. Avoid asking prospects a lot of questions during phone calls. They are not interested in answering them on the phone. It is simply too time-consuming to fit into their busy lives. You do not want a disengaged prospect on your hands.

Instead, qualify behind the scenes as much as possible. You can do this in several ways:

  • Industry benchmarks and trends are illuminating. Look for reports or surveys that reveal how much revenue companies allocate in certain markets or industries for expenses such as infrastructure, marketing, technology and professional services.
  • Annual reports released by publicly traded companies are also a great resource to get data on benchmark budgets. Additionally, these annual reports can give you insight into the problems and challenges, as well as opportunities that you can use to your advantage.
  • Use tools such as Google Alerts and Mention to see what is currently happening in a company that you are trying to target. Has there been a merger or acquisition? Is a new product in development? Have they shared a press release recently? Have they gone through a change in management?
  • Investigate social media for contacts within the organization. How are people connected? What might the organizational chart look like? What interests might people have? Who may be part of the decision-making team? What information would be most compelling to him/her? What does the buying process look like in the organization?

2.) Master Appointment Scheduling and Prospecting 

Getting a firm grip on appointment scheduling and prospecting is the number one challenge of salespeople. 37% of salespeople consider prospecting their biggest struggle. (3) This is a serious problem when you think about how critical prospecting is to the entire sales process.

Fortunately, there are solutions you can implement to ensure prospecting will be fruitful:

  • Gain a deep understanding of the customer – their pain points, the issues they face and opportunities that make or cost them money
  • Thoroughly research each prospect prior to your meeting so that you have a firm grasp on their industry, business and unique situation. Not only will doing so inform your efforts, but they will also view you as being more trustworthy.
  • Gain a clear understanding of the colleagues, and their respective titles, who may be involved in helping your prospect make their decision. Prepare industry-specific material with all parties in mind.
  • Identify the pain points of the prospect that your products or services can solve. 70% of decision-makers buy to solve a problem. (4) Start with these pain points to make a clear connection between their problems and why your company can solve them. (PRO TIP: Use case studies to show how much you saved or generated money for another company with a similar problem in the same industry!)
  • Calculate how much money it could cost the prospect if they fail to resolve the pain points and how much money they stand to gain if they address them. In other words, what is the cost of keeping the current status quo?
  • Nail down the best time to call. They will appreciate your thoughtful approach to navigating their schedule.
  • Extend an irresistible offer. Even if the offer is available for a limited time only, getting them in the door is huge.

3.) Sell the Value Your Business Offers 

A whopping 55% of sales people said that budget is the leading reason sales deals fall through. (5) Think about it. You do not want to spend your hard-earned money unless you deem the expense worthwhile. It is no different for your prospects. In fact, they may be under even more pressure to stay within budget.

The best way to prevent deals from failing due to budget is to properly position the value your products or services offer. Make your reasoning so compelling that it opens your prospect’s mind to potentially exceeding the allotted budget. How do you do this? By making them see that the benefits they will get from your products or services will ultimately make them a great deal of money in the long run.

Learning from deals that fall through for budgetary reasons can give you a significant advantage in the long run. Sometimes it can even turn losses into wins by getting a crystal-clear understanding of the prospect’s needs and how you might be able to work within the confines of their budget.

(4.) Ask for Referrals 

There is a telltale reason why 47% of top sales representatives ask for referrals. (6) It is one of the most effective ways to gain new customers because it eliminates the cold-calling aspect. Getting a referral from a trusted source automatically advances your company to the next step, making your chances of closing the deal that much better.

There is a caveat. You must still qualify referrals to make sure they stand a good chance of buying. This is critical not only for the sake of your own time, but also for the sake of your relationship with current customers.

Employ these tactics to successfully ask for introductions and referrals:

  • Stress that you would really like your contact’s help. People enjoy helping others.
  • Ask for the referral after the customer has benefitted from your products or services. Receiving a compliment from them is a great indicator.
  • Give them a brief description of your ideal referral. This makes it easy for your contact to identify referrals.
  • Ask your customer to make the initial introduction to the referral or ask for permission to use their name when making the introduction yourself.
  • Research your customer’s connections on LinkedIn. This is another way to make it convenient for them to give you a referral.
  • Thank your contact for the referral with a thoughtful and memorable gesture such as a gift card or thank you card. Ask them how you can reciprocate. Remember, customers who give you referrals are one of your best assets.

While the sales landscape has become more challenging to navigate successfully, using the four strategies outlined above will take you far in closing more sales. It boils down to taking a more sophisticated, high-quality approach to your sales goals.

For more information about how Gavel International can help your organization through outsourced meeting planning, event and travel incentive programs, contact us.

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SOURCES:

1 https://www.marcwayshak.com/sales-statistics/

2 https://www.business.com/articles/youve-got-leads-why-arent-they-buying

3 https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/3476323/State%20of%20Inbound%202018%20Global%20Results.pdf

4 https://www.impactcommunicationsinc.com/pdf/nwsltr_2001/ICINwsltrpr0108.pdf

5 https://www.marcwayshak.com/sales-statistics/

6 https://www.yesware.com/blog/top-sales-statistics-and-takeaways-2020/

Jim Bozzelli