It’s never easy finding the best routine for your sales process nor is it easy to find a rhythm that suits you, at first. In fact, it’s kind of scary and worrying, especially starting a new role or even company, as you want to perform well and get off to a good start. How do you do it? Do you read books on sales motivation? Do you speak with sales people who are experts in their industry? Many varied ideas work for different people, but I’ll share my experience based on my role within Quattro, using HubSpot and other software tools. I will also share my 7 top tips for being successful in sales.
Do You Think You’re a Good Sales Person?
In my view, the attributes that make a good sales person are:
- having a good, winning attitude (and a good dose of optimism)
- not giving up easily but being determined and maintaining stamina whilst accepting that not every company is a good fit for your products/services so knowing when to turn down prospects.
- working smartly and efficiently – automating as many repeatable tasks as possible.
- understanding your products/services and company ethos inside out.
- continually prospecting and growing your sales pipeline.
These characteristics have motivated my sales journey throughout my career so far, but more importantly – this combination of attributes will aid my growth as a sales professional in the years to come.
Where Do You See Yourself in 6, 12, 18 Months’ Time?
Do you currently have a future plan on where you’d like to progress from your current role? Have you thought about what you need to do in order to reach that next level? Setting goals is an important part of keeping your career on track. In sales, it’s all about motivation and rewards. If you work on a commission/bonus basis, how does it feel when a deal closes, and you’re rewarded for all your hard work? The feeling is so great and encouraging you can often find yourself having a successful week or two subsequently due to that winning buzz.
My Top 7 Tips to Being Successful In sales
- Sales Software - It is crucial to have the latest necessary software and tools to help make your job easier and more efficient.
- CRM System – Every sales person knows how time consuming it can be to have a painfully slow CRM that doesn’t even do the things you need it to. HubSpot really hit the nail on the head with their CRM (and it’s free!) making it an all-in-one place for all of your sales needs. We can provide the tools to make yours, and your company’s lives’ easier.
- Motivation – Having the right mental motivation and believing in yourself is the ultimate key to sales success. You need to give yourself the confidence to be able to perform and hit targets, not just your company’s goals but your personal goals too.
- A Good Team – Whether you are a lone sales ranger, or working within an established sales team, it’s vital to have good communication across the entire business. A shared deals dashboard is perfect for this and if you need sales assets e.g. video, brochure, case studies, content to send to your contacts, these can be produced and stored globally for easy access as and when you need it.
- Sales Strategy – You need to have a solid sales process in place which sets out your targets for each monthly and how you’re going to hit them. The saying; ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’ couldn’t be truer in this case as without a strategy, you will not succeed.
- Going Above and Beyond – By this I mean helping your potential prospects or a current customer by giving them top level service. This will be recognised and can also help you seal deals, build rapport and ultimately build a good relationship with your contacts. Sometimes it’s the people that make the sale not just the product/service on offer.
- Be Real and Be You – Be an honest sales person, don’t say things just to win a prospect over and then fail to deliver. Stay true and confident in your product or service - let’s face it, you’re not going to cater for everyone so when you do find the perfect fit client, make the most of building that relationship and ensure they realise that you really do care about them and their business success.
Using these 7 tips has given me much success, been extremely rewarding and has taught me a lot on my sales journey so far. Sometimes it’s been super tough and other times it’s been a walk in the park, but none the less this is what I believe leads to sales success and strong personal development. If you'd like help, advice or some automated software tools to save you time with your sales tasks, book a slot in my calendar below...