I had only twenty minutes to go before the start of a workshop I was presenting. My throat was sore and I desperately wanted a cup of coffee. I have to confess, I’ve become a bit of a coffee snob, so was not willing to just try the first shop available. In fact, I walked past five of them to get to the Gloria Jeans. A few minutes had passed, and I could feel my stress levels rising. I did not want to be late. Of course, there was a person in the queue before me, and today, their transaction seemed to go on. More stress. Finally, I ordered, paid and took a few steps towards the area where I would collect my coffee when it was ready.

To my utter amazement, by the time I reached there, I heard ‘Yesss - 44 seconds!’. The barista, with a big smile on her face, announces my order ‘Pree’! I could have hugged her and paid double the price of the coffee! I walk away relieved, thankful and amazed that it was all done so quickly.

As I hurried to where I was running the workshop, my mind kept playing back the excitement in the barista’s voice, ‘Yesss - 44 seconds!’. She had probably set a goal of 60 seconds to make the coffee and was pumped about the fact that she smashed it. If she did not have a goal, she might have taken longer and cared less about the outcome.

What goals have you set for yourself in the new financial year?

Here are a few things to think about while setting goals:

• What would you like to achieve in the next few years (business or personal)?
• To achieve that, what milestones must be crossed this year?
• What needs to happen, for example with your sales results, to support those milestones?
• How are you going to achieve those goals?
• How are you going to measure it?
• When are you going to start? And finally,
• How are you going to stay the course?

The difference between dreams and goals is that the latter is written. Having written your goals and action plans, the next important step is to determine how you will measure them. FedEx Corporation is known for the saying “If you can measure it, you can improve it.”

If you are able to break your goals down into milestones, then plan how to achieve them and stay the course, you too will be saying ‘Yesss!’ by the end of this new financial year.

To your success,

Have an opinion, question or story? Click the link below to share it! We would love to hear from you.

Most prospecting methods involve approaching a large number of targets and then filtering out prospects based on their response. It is important to capture, track and continue to work on prospects to ensure the best outcome in the long run.

However, to manage a large amount of customer data well, it is essential to:

• Develop or adopt a system to record prospect information
• Monitor the system to manage prospects through to closure
• Assess and improve the system to meet your changing needs

A well-designed system enables you to prioritise prospects based on their value  and  timeframes.  It also ensures that the information is never misplaced or discarded.

At the prospect’s end, it means:

• They get the information they need in a timely manner.
• The sales person dealing with them follows up regularly.
• The details of their discussions with you are never lost.
• They continue to place more trust in the sales person because of the professional and reliable manner in which they are looked after.

Today, a number of Customer Relationship Management (C.R.M) applications enable all of the above and are a must-have for businesses wanting to manage their customer relationships really well.

Have an opinion, question or story? Click the link below to share it! We would love to hear from you.

Most new sales people begin with a high level of prospecting activity. However when success comes and the volume of their business grows, they often turn into ‘order-takers’ and administrators. Working with existing customers and managing orders involves less rejection and negativity but still takes up valuable time. So, unless there is a set process to prevent them from doing this, they end up making little or no investment into developing new business. It is only when they lose a significant customer and feel the sobering shock of it, that they regret not prospecting more frequently. Without a replacement for that revenue, it takes a while to get back to their earlier level of success.

You can shockproof your revenue! Here’s how:

• Develop a good sales plan and forecast for the next 12 months, with a provision for revenues from new clients
• Create a prospecting plan with two to three methods of generating a lead base
• Set aside a reasonable amount of time to prospect every week without compromise
• Reduce your non-sales tasks by delegating or outsourcing them so that you can invest in building the pipeline
• Track your progress weekly and find an accountability partner to stay on track

If you can do this, you will be prepared when the unexpected happens. And if it doesn’t, your sales will grow even faster! Have an opinion, question or story? Click the link below to share it! We would love to hear from you.

Last week, we looked at a logical and mathematical approach to determining the level of prospecting required to achieve your sales targets. This week, let's look at the critical stages in this approach and tips on how to improve your ratio of success at each level.

Lets start at the top of the sales funnel:

1. Targeting suspects
Target the markets and niches which have a strong attraction to your product or service, rather than using a spray-and-pray approach.

2. Converting suspects to prospects
Highlight ‘what’s in it for them’ (W.I.I.F.T) or the value proposition of your product or service rather than talking about what the product or service is. For example, let’s assume you provide a direct mailing service, which has proven, higher response rates than impersonal mail. Your service enables businesses to generate a higher return on investment from their marketing efforts, or simply put, generates more sales per dollar spent in marketing. You are more likely to get your prospects attention if you talk about how you are helping your customers increase sales rather than telling them about the mailing service itself.

The W.I.I.F.T principle helps you engage your customers better whether it is communicated in spoken, written or audio-visual form.

3. Converting prospects to customers
After engaging your customer, a thorough verification of their needs, motives and expectations puts you in a position of superior knowledge. Knowledge is power. Having gathered the information you need, tailor your offer precisely to the customer's requirements to make it compelling and persuasive.

4. Increasing customer transaction values or growing customer revenue
Once you earn the right to become a supplier to your customer, it is important to go beyond the day-to-day ordering of your product to further understand their business, its structure, processes and goals. Mapping your product or service range against their departments or potential buyers enables you to plan a better penetration strategy into their company.

In summary, you need to build good prospecting plans and develop your sales skills to enjoy great success.

I'd love to hear your comments and feedback. Click the link below to save or share this article.