Many business owners and sales people get easily distracted by day to day operational tasks that naturally need attending to. But all too often, we get to the end of the day having done nothing to advance our sales pipeline.
You need to think about your future sales as a pipe. As you push opportunities into the pipe, it fills up and then sales coming pouring out the other end. As many sales cycles can take weeks or even months, the effect of your sales efforts now may not be seen for a while.
Equally, if you have plenty of sales pouring out of your pipe at the moment, it is all too easy to assume that everything is rosy in the sales garden and dips in your efforts to put new opportunities into the pipe right now will not have an effect immediately.
Suddenly, weeks or months down the line, you find that your lack of attention to sales in the past comes home to roost as your pipeline dries up and converted sales drop. This has an impact on your cash flow and profits.
So, what can you do today to make an impact on your sales?
Set aside time every day to perform sales activities
Even if it’s just an hour to make some outbound sales calls, knock on a few doors or call some existing or past clients. Connect with people every day.
Try to make it the same time every day. This will help you get into the habit and discipline which will boost your sales opportunities consistently.
Expand your network through colleagues and contacts. Target prospects via LinkedIn or other social media platforms.
Whatever it is that you do, make sure it involves direct contact with existing or potential customers. Only through direct conversation can you grow solid sales opportunities.
Remember, Conversation builds Information, Information creates Opportunity, Opportunities lead to Sales
If you want help with building your sales skills and activities, call SureTrain on 0800 840 1501 or email us at hello@suretrain.co.uk