I am continually amazed at the number of small business owners or sales professionals be them manufacturers, retailers, distributors realtors, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, financial advisers, lawyers, accountants, information technology consultants and even business coaches who do not now their numbers. No wonder they are working harder not smarter.

Here are some critical key numbers that every sales professional should know to be able to efficiently and effectively increase sales:

• Total Sales for the last 12 months
• Average sale value for the last 12 months
• Number of active clients (those conducting business within the last 12 months)
• Number of sales transactions for the last 12 months
• Historical sales growth for the last 5 years
• Average profit per average sale for the last 12 months

Let’s say that you currently generate $240,000 in sales. Breaking this down further means on average that you receive:

• $20,000 in sales per month
• $5,000 in sales per week
• $1,000 in sales per day

Now you determine that your average sale is $100 and this means that you must have 10 orders per day to make your current sales levels. You want to increase your sales from the historic growth of 7%-9% to at least 15% which is almost double your historical growth and starts to make you feel somewhat uncomfortable. Yet, you know that your marketplace is growing, more and more competitors are hanging up their signs so you believe that this is possible. Sales Coaching Tip: To be competitive means you must leave your comfort zone and that will make you uncomfortable.

To reach your new growth goal means an additional $36,000 in new sales or $3,000 more a month. This translates to 30 more transactions per month (average sales value is $100) or 1.5 more new sales per day. When you begin to crunch the numbers, securing another 1.5 sales does not seem that impossible.

Now you further realize that your existing customer base of 100 active clients make on average of 2 purchases a month. By doing the math, you quickly determine that by increasing monthly purchases to 3 for 10% of your customers, you can easily pick up another $12,000 in sales. Sales Coaching Tip: Look for the low hanging fruit that is probably there, but you ran by it because you just did not see it.

In reviewing your inactive clients of 300, you notice that some of them buy once a year. If you make sure that just half of them buy twice a year, instead of just one time, you can add another $15,000 to your total sales. Sales Coaching Tip: Working with existing client is much more cost effective than trying to find new customers.

Finally, in your historical growth you receive an average of 10 new customers per year. Your research suggests that only one third of them will buy twice a month and the rest will purchase only one time. This results in another $12,000.

Your projections look something like this:

• $12,000 from additional monthly purchases for 10 existing customers
• $15,000 from one additional purchase from 50% of inactive customers
• $12,000 from historical growth of 10 new customers
• $39,000 in total projected new sales by focusing on just 3 sales areas

All of a sudden you see that you can achieve your sales goal and with some additional sales to spare. This activity is much like answering the question: How do you eat an elephant? Answer: One bite at a time. By taking small bites in specific areas, you can increase sales.

Now you understand the importance of knowing your sales numbers. So get the #2 pencil out or the Excel spread sheet and start crunching those numbers!

Would you like to increase sales? Are you tired of coming up short with your monthly, quarterly or annual sales goals? Would you like to stop bleeding all the dollars from poor attitudes to unhappy customers? Then you may discover a possible solution through Triage Business Planning action plan where you can become one of the few to change and realize business success instead one of the many who continue to fight change and ultimately die.

Leanne Hoagland-Smith, Chicago Sales Coach, helps small business owners to C Level executives from Chicago to Indianapolis to worldwide who are truly tired of struggling to unlock the sales and business results that they want. Call 219.759.5601 to schedule a free business coaching training or sales coaching strategy session to begin to quickly unlock tomorrow’s solutions today.

Author: Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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When we think about the goal to increase sales, our first thoughts are about the business, ourselves and possibly our own sales skills. However, the sales interaction is really about the other person – the customer. So, does it not make sense to think of that other person first, without any thought of your own immediate needs?

Of course, to think of others first is a daunting task especially with bills, employees and the governments all wanting, no demanding, their payments. Yet, it is from this perspective that you will increase sales because you are truly engaged in authentic relationship selling.

So how does one think of others first? I believe that it starts with a belief echoed in the words of John Maxwell: No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care. You truly must care about your fellow mankind from the little old lady walking down the street to the stranger sitting next to you on the airplane.

Maybe you are thinking, Sounds nice and good, but I do not have time. Yes, you do because a smile at a stranger takes as much time as not smiling. A quick Hi, How are you, can be said in the same amount of time as just walking by and not saying anything.

Of course, some might say, Sure, that sounds good, but I need to focus on the decision makers because all those other people cannot make a sale for me. Yet, it is precisely those other people who do make the sales for you.

Here are five ways to think of other first as you look to how to increase sales:

1. Read the paper. When you see complete strangers to recent acquaintances, receive rewards, send them a congratulatory handwritten note.
2. Look for articles that may help others grow their businesses.
3. Make referrals to companies that you have patronized when you hear of specific needs from strangers to acquaintances.
4. Expand your own professional knowledge and development and then share that with others.
5. Call existing clients and prospects. Ask them how you can help them without any attempts to sell them.

By taking these actions, you are demonstrating that you care more about others than you care about your own bank account. Over time, you will become the “go to” person. People will freely share your name with others. You will increase your own credibility within your marketplace. Suddenly or not so suddenly, you will become that Red Jacket surrounded by a lot of gray suits. And the results will answer that question: How to increase sales?

Take this free sales skills assessment to help you increase sales.

Is your business facing inconsistent or insufficient cash flow, lackluster sales to poor productivity? Maybe some exercise at the sales coaching training gym will get you to where you want to go?

Leanne Hoagland-Smith, Chicago Sales Coach, helps small business owners to C Level executives from Chicago to Indianapolis to worldwide who are truly tired of struggling to unlock the sales and business results that they want. Call 219.759.5601 to schedule a free business coaching training or sales coaching strategy session to begin to quickly unlock tomorrow’s solutions today.

Author: Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Pitching their products and services when speaking

Business professionals attend these events for three basic reasons to:

1. Meet prospective clients
2. Advance their professional and business development
3. Socialize

Increase Sales Coaching Tip: What they did not come to hear was a sales pitch.

When you, as a sales professional, engage in pitching your products or services during a speaking engagement , the only thing you have demonstrated is that you care more about yourself than your audience. Yes, maybe you are an expert, but if you have to tell people you are an expert by making a sales pitch, your level of expertise is probably fairly shallow.

Professional saleswomen and salesmen who speak and provide the audience with real value that being at least one gem of new knowledge demonstrate their expertise, their sales skills, by their behaviors. Their message is not diluted by the distraction of a sales pitch.

Using the tried and true A.I.D.A. marketing model is a great way to frame any speech whether it is the 5-minute introduction or a 30-minute presentation. First, you must get their A=Attention. Opening up with a question is a great way to achieve this first step.

Next, you must maintain their I=Interest. Share with them something new, some startling statistic that will keep their eyes on you. Since a significant part of my practice involves coaching businesses to return to the purpose of business by building customer loyalty, I always use statistics coupled with questions.

For example, I will ask the audience: With a show of hands, how many of you believe that you deliver exceptional customer service? And usually 75% to 90% of the room respond with raised hands. Next I say Great, you share the belief with the majority of businesses in this country, but unfortunately less than 10% of your customers believe that you provide exceptional customer service.

The use of statistics also helps to build D=Desire that being an emotional connection when properly exercised. As in the previous example, the words believe and belief are emotional in their nature.

Finally, a call to A=Action should be always included. This is when a sales person can make an indirect or direct pitch.

An indirect pitch is how I recently closed a keynote entitled Increase Sales with a Click of the Mouse. “Your challenge today after you leave is will you be one of the many who fail to take action to increase sales or one of the few who take action and realize business success?”

A more direct pitch might sound like: Thank you for this opportunity to speak to this great group of business and community leaders. If you wish to ask me any questions or speak to me about a specific business challenge, I will be at the back of the room.

If speaking is one your sales skills to increase sales and build loyal customers, then take the time to consider this sales coaching tip. Remember, the last thing you want to do is to disengage a prospect if your goal is to increase sales.

What other sales skills do you need to improve? Take this free sales skill assessment.

Are you looking for other sales coaching tips? Why not visit sales coaching gym that is designed to help you become better at selling while respecting your valuable resources of time, energy and money.

Leanne Hoagland-Smith, chief customer officer, helps organizations through business coaching training services to return to the purpose of business that being building ravings fans while increasing productivity and profitability. With offices in Chicago, Indianapolis and colleagues nationwide, she can help you become the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits. Call 219.759.5601 to schedule a free business coaching consultation.

Author: Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The first element to increased sales is based on attraction, attention, and action. You could be the most highly skilled salesperson in the world and fail miserably if you don’t have enough prospects to sell to. You must develop the proficiency to attract highly qualified prospects, get and maintain their attention, and most importantly get them to take action and reach out to you. When a prospect reaches out to you, you are in the position of a trusted adviser rather than the position of the dreaded salesperson. The person they want to avoid. The person they view as their adversary.

Hand-in-hand with the first element is the second element. Once you’re able to attract highly qualified prospects to you stop allocating time for suspects. Meeting with suspects decreases your productivity, slows your momentum, and wastes valuable time you could be using to promote yourself to other highly qualified prospects. Your time is one of your most valuable resources. You can’t replace or redo your time you have to make your time work for you rather than against you. Wasting time on suspects when you can filter the world at large for highly qualified prospects and invest your time, energies, and dollars on them just doesn’t make sense.

It’s far easier to keep a heavy stone wheel rolling than it is to get a stopped wheel started again. The same is true with your sales momentum. However, the nemesis of increased sales is increased sales. You must guard against and prevent the start and stop syndrome that happens when you work to add prospects, gain new business, and then stop working to gain prospects because you’re busy taking care of all the new business. The solution to preventing and avoiding this syndrome is marketing systems that automatically do their job for you while you take care of prospects and clients.

From the point of the first connection and through-out the life of your relationship with your clients you must act as their trusted adviser. This is demonstrated through your approach to attracting highly qualified prospects, how you handle the sales conversation with those prospects, and how you take care of your clients. From the start they must have confidence that you have their best interests as your best interest.

The final element for increased sales is preparation. Preparation in the way you attract prospects, preparation for the sales conversation helping prospects to make the best decision for them, and preparation for extending and deepening the client relationship once the sale is made. Prepare for increased sales by developing your five-pronged effort to increased sales and improving your proficiency in each area.

Yes, now you can discover the “7 Secrets Top Producers Know that You Can Put to Use in the Next 9 Days”

Turn yourself into a Top Producing Sale Genie

Increase Sales Coach Gets Results Sales Training Can’t

Author: Cheryl Clausen
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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No I am not speaking about the 3Rs from your early childhood education of reading, ‘riting or ‘rithmetic, but the 3Rs for business: Relationships, Referrals and Revenue.

Business exists to make revenue – the third R. This R is the direct result of business referrals (second R) given that 80% of all new business comes from referrals. Businesses secure referrals from relationships (first R).

To increase business sales demands that you track all of your relationships that have been generated through your marketing activities. From those marketing activities you realize sales that lead to productivity or profitability.

For example, if you know that you attend one business networking event (marketing activity), you will secure 5 leads of which you build 3 relationships. Those 3 relationships lead to 2 sales that deliver 20% gross profits.

Another way to measure business results is through how many calls you make that deliver X percentage of appointments. Those appointments give you X% of presentation appointments from which you receive X sales. In real numbers, the progression might look like this:

100 calls = 50 first appointments = 25 presentation appointments = 10 sales.

If you want to increase business sales, then you need to make 200 calls to double the current sales results. However increasing sales is only one part of the equation. An increase in sales may result in a decrease in profitability because you may be generating more costs to deliver more sales.

By returning to your strategic plan, you can map a course so that when you take action to increase activity, your costs will stay within the acceptable parameters. And if you really have taken the time to plan your strategy, you may even be able to reduce some costs and increase profitability.

When women in business adopt these simple strategies to increase business results, they will begin to increase the sales that they desire.

Are you a business woman facing other issues? Maybe this FREE e book Up, Up and Away in 2008 may help you overcome some of those very issues. Learn more at http://www.processspecialist.com/business-women.htm

Do you want more sales? Then register for FREE professional sales skills assessment http://www.processspecialist.com/sales-skill-assessment.htm.

Please feel free to contact me, Leanne Hoagland-Smith, Your Chief People Officer and Business Coach, who works with individuals and organizations that are tired of not being where they want to be and truly want more for their businesses and their selves. 219.508.2859

Author: Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Is your sales force not producing the results you want and lacking the energy, teamwork, drive, and the attitude that they need to have for great success?

Are you a sales professional or sales manager who is carrying around too much stress, lacking motivation, and not achieving your full potential? If any of this is true, then listen up.

Laughter just might be the solution. You can immediately reduce stress, increase productivity, teamwork, focus and motivation for your entire organization or team with laughter.

The bottom line impact from improving all of these factors means better sales results. As a former director of sales for multiple organizations, I was always looking for innovative ways to motivate my entire sales force. I wish I had known about laughter exercises at that time!

There has never been a simpler way to bring more laughter into the workplace, until now. The most powerful and effective way to bring laughter into the workplace is to hire a certified laughter yoga leader like myself, to conduct a laughter seminar.

Many professionals have experienced the benefits of laughter exercises first hand, yet laughter seminars are still far from being mainstream. When I have conducted laughter seminars, it is not uncommon for perceived motivation and productivity to nearly double, right away. Unbelievable, right?

Below are some of the reasons why you should bring a laughter seminar to your organization or sales team:

1. Reduce Sales Stress
While there are many tools available for stress management, laughter seminars provide a unique system that helps to reduce physical, mental and emotional stress at the same time. It works simultaneously both on the body and mind.

2. Improved Sales Attitudes
Performance is connected to attitude, and laughter has the power to change the attitude and mood within minutes by releasing neuro-peptides from the brain cells called endorphins.

3. Sales Team Building
“People who laugh together, work together”
John Cleese, a renowned British comedian, once said during his visit to Mumbai for a laughter seminar, that laughter is a great connector of people. It breaks all hierarchies and is a force for democracy. Laughter has the ability to change the work environment drastically by making people happy and cheerful, bringing positive mental attitude, and optimism into the sales force. It also increases communication skills which further help in team building.

4. Sales Innovation and Creativity
Some of the most creative people in the world are children. The essence of laughter exercises is to cultivate childlike playfulness. This playfulness stimulates the right brain activity which is where the creativity originates. This helps to generate new ideas and insights about sales challenges and problems.

5. Increasing Attention Span During Sales Conferences, Sales Training, or New Product Training
Studies have shown that even after just 30 minutes, the concentration levels start to decrease. A brief laughter seminar can provide a great energy boost during a full day of training, meetings or conferences.

6. Positive Sales Force Environment
Sales job dissatisfaction can compel people to change jobs more frequently which will affect productivity and profitability. Laughter creates positive energy and improves communication between people. Studies have shown that positive emotions are increased while negative emotions are decreased from laughter. Happier, more balanced employees increases loyalty and commitment.

7. Sales Motivation
Laughter helps to bring a smile on the face and generate good feelings within the body. This enhances communication and motivation. Positive energy is contagious, and will be felt by prospects, clients, and the entire sales organization.

These are just some of the many reasons why you should consider a Laughter Seminar to increase your sales results. Most sales leaders have tried just about everything to increase sales results and motivate their sales force; however, it has not been until now, that laughter has been viewed as a viable solution.

Sales Coaching Expert, Jeremy Ulmer, has helped hundreds of sales professionals, sales leaders, and business owners just like you overcome sales challenges to increase productivity and win more clients faster.
For 100s of unbeatable, sure-fire ways to increasing your sales results, subscribe for your free sales tips or request a free Sales Coaching at: http://www.SalesCoachingHabits.com

Author: Jeremy J. Ulmer
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Many businesses believe that increasing sales figures means targeting new business; this can be true to some extent; however it has been proven through research that it is far more profitable to get existing customers to buy again. One of the best sales prospects is a consumer who is already a current customer. You need to adopt focused methods of selling to existing customers, enticing them to buy again and convincing them that they absolutely cannot do without your product. As you increase sales you are also building customer loyalty.

Get your sales people to sell more:

When your sales person up-sells a product, he is in effect adding on related products to the main product and selling it to the customer as a must have package. Your customer has to be convinced that he needs all of the additional products together with the original product and that the benefits far outweigh the expenditure outlay.The sales person has to be dynamic enough and observant enough to find ways to work additional products into the sale and convince the customer of the necessity in having the products and the convenience of buying them right away.

Sales incentive programs:

You are dependent on your sales staff to sell and expect them to increase sales whenever you put up their targets. How do you motivate your sales staff to sell for you; they need to have some sort of driving force and for sales people in a word it is ‘incentives’. Giving your sales people something to work towards makes all the difference to their selling attitude. If you had a trip to the Far East to look forward to, provided you met your quarterly sales target, I bet they will be out there knocking on doors come rain or shine! That is one way to go about motivating people to sell.

Always keep your customers informed:

Telling customers about upcoming sales promotions means you are encouraging them to come back when items are cheaper. Sure you may lose 20% or so off a sale if the customer does not buy immediately but decides to come back during the sale. However, what you need to understand about buyer psychology is that in addition to the item the customer originally intended to buy, they are sure to end up picking up a couple of additional items because of the sale. Moreover, customers who have knowledge of upcoming sales promotions always pass on the good word, so you have free word of mouth advertising as well.

Customer loyalty rewards:

Always take care of your customers. Big businesses make it a practice to look after their clients and its true they have the resources to do so. However, any business, irrespective of the size should be able to take care of loyal, repeat customers. A good way to do this is to set up customer rewards programs. Look after your customers and they will come back to you, thereby helping you to increase sales.

Bill Glass is a Certified Business and Personal Development Coach and a Commercial Real Estate Consultant He was a manager with UPS, owned two very successful businesses and served three terms as an elected public official. He can be reached at bill@consultbillglass.com
http://www.small-business-resource.com

Author: Bill F Glass
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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One of the main reasons that turnover has such a large impact on sales is because of the knowledge that is lost when the sales person leaves. Below is a summary of the knowledge that is lost:

Product knowledge: When an employee is hired, they are given a tremendous amount of training. First, they will be given some amount of formal training that could be anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. Once the formal training ends, the training does not stop. There is typically a ramp up period where the employee continues to learn from peers and on the job. This ramp up period typically lasts anywhere from three to six months. And even after the employee is fully ramped up, the depth of their product knowledge will typically continue to expand day in and day out.

Customer knowledge: Success in sales is dependent on knowing your customer. This includes knowing their business, their challenges, their drivers, the key players, politics, culture, organization structure, etc. While a sales person works with a customer, they will learn a tremendous amount about them. Some of the key details of the customer may be documented in a customer relationship management system. But in most instances, there is a tremendous amount of customer knowledge that will exist only in the sales person’s head and leave with the sales person if they leave the company.

Opportunity knowledge: When working on sales opportunities, there will be a tremendous amount of details of interactions, communications, drivers, relationships, competition, and processes that the sales person will be knowledgeable of. A lot of key opportunity details will be documented and shared with management, but it is likely that the sales person is the person that has and understands most of the details and factors involved.

By only looking at those three areas, it is clear that when a sales person leaves, a tremendous amount of knowledge walks out the door. It is probably a safe assumption that losing this knowledge and then spending the time and money to replace it will have a negative impact on sales. Thus, by retaining sales people and decreasing turnover, a company can improve effectiveness in increasing sales.

If the goal is keep retain employees, there are some key things that can be done to improve effectiveness in this area.

Turnover is comprised of terminations and resignations. The biggest contributor to these actions being taken by either the employee or the employer is poor sales performance. Either the employee is not happy with earnings and goes somewhere with better potential or the employer is not be happy with the employee’s performance in increasing sales and takes action with the hope of positive change.

Actions like terminations and resignations are reactive and sometimes taken when things are too late. There are proactive actions that can be taken earlier in the process and these can deliver decreases in turnover and have a positive impact on increasing sales.

Compensation: Utilize compensation plans that have realistic targets. The plan should be setup so that commissions are directly tied to the sales person’s actions and successes.

Training: Improve any areas where more training could improve sales performance. Do the sales persons have the knowledge and skills needed be effectively increasing sales?

Coaching: Utilize sales coaching to pick up where the training leaves off to ensure that the sales person stays on track to with increasing sales.

Michael Halper has a passion for coaching individuals toward personal and professional development. For more information about coaching and development visit Compass Coaching you can read more about Increasing Sales by Decreasing Employee Turnover or Sales Coaching.

Author: Michael Halper
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Unfortunately, when you hire new employees, you never know how they are going to turn out and how they will perform day in and day out. One way to decrease the risk and uncertainty with staffing new sales people is to utilize a process of sales coaching. Sales coaching is effective at increasing sales and improving performance by working directly with the sales staff on a one-on-one basis to keep them focused, motivated, and on track.

The impact of being able to increase sales through something like sales coaching can be very advantageous. From a top line perspective, by improving the probability and amount of success for each sales person, the cumulative revenue increase can drive very significant revenue growth and improvements in profitability. This could be the determining factor in succeeding in a competitive marketplace and gaining market share.

Increase Sales to Increase Company Valuation
A bigger picture benefit is that this could improve the valuation of the company as a whole. By posting better growth and profitability figures, a public company could see an increase in its stock price. For private companies, this could make the company more attractive from an acquisition standpoint and enable it to be purchased at a higher price.

Increase Sales to Increase Employee Valuation
Utilizing sales coaching to increase sales, will also deliver strong benefits to the individual contributors as well. For the sales staff and sales management, this means an increase in quota attainment providing more commissions and money in their pockets. In the long-term, the benefits could be job security, job satisfaction, and being better positioned for any potential promotions.

Decrease Hard-dollar Costs
By effectively increasing sales, the company will not only see top line improvement, but can also stand to see strong improvements in the bottom line by controlling and decreasing costs. This is achieved by decreasing turnover through creating a happier and more successful staff. By decreasing turnover, the company will see hard-dollar savings in the area of hiring, training, and replacing sales staff.

Decrease Opportunity Cost
By improving the success of the sales staff and decreasing turnover, the company also stands to decrease opportunity cost. Consider the business that is lost or missed while a sales person is under-performing. Add to that any business that is lost or missed while a position is open from a resignation or termination. Finally, add to that any business that is lost or missed while a new hire is being trained and getting ramped up. All of this adds up to a tremendous amount of opportunity cost and that can be decreased by improving performance and tenure for the sales staff.

Michael Halper has a passion for coaching individuals toward personal and professional development. For more information about coaching and development visit Compass Coaching you can read more about Using Sales Coaching to Increase Sales or Sales Coaching.

Author: Michael Halper
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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1. Positioning / Branding / Differentiation:

Effectively answering the most important question in the prospect’s mind, “Why should I do business with you (and not your competitor)?” is crucial. So is, a strong “Sales Posture”. Salespeople without a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) often have to resort to price cutting. Begging for business is not a viable sales strategy. Remember, the prospect’s mind works on the W.I.I.F.M. principle (“What’s In It For Me?).

2. Potent Sales Scripts:

Scientifically written, natural sounding and emotionally compelling scripts for Sales Prospecting / Pre-Qualifying, Sales Presentation, Objection Handling, Sales Closing, Following up and FAQs are vital. Good sales scripts will help your salespeople stay on track, ask the right questions, and “sail” into the Close! A written script can also help you train new sales people quickly, and convey a consistently professional image of the company.

3. Cutting Edge Sales Tools:

An “Info Kit” (PDF for emailing, snail-mailing and faxing) is often a must. It should be scientifically designed to push the right Emotional Hot Buttons, and incorporate a strong “Call to Action”. Prospect Databases, a good Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, clearly defined “Steps to the Sale” with corresponding “Actions” logged in the CRM are also important. A good website is a big help.

4. Hire the Right Sales People:

Good sales professionals are very rare and often hard to find. The JOY Tests ™ of Total Sales Ability ™ from Dan Joy, Inc., can help you hire the best salespeople (Top 2%), retain them longer, as well as grow your sales! They can also help you avoid costly hiring mistakes. In the past, sales assessment tools were used primarily by large companies. Now, the fully integrated online sales assessment testing system of Dan Joy, Inc. has brought these crucial sales assessment tools within the easy reach of small to mid-sized businesses, but large companies can use them too. Dan Joy, Inc. offers 10 Free Sales Assessments to qualified businesses (see the link in the Author’s Bio / Resource Box below).

5. Good Sales Leadership:

Selling is one of the hardest things. It is both physically demanding (long hours) and emotionally draining (facing rejection continually). Having your sales team report to someone who has never sold for a living is usually not a good idea. I have seen sales people report to a “non-sales” Plant Manager, CFO, Production Manager, Office Manager, etc., and that is often a recipe for disaster. Regular Sales Meetings (at least once a week), Role Playing (practicing the scripts, objection handling, etc.), Sales Training, Sales Goals expressed in terms of controllable actions (important), ongoing accountability, metrics, reward / correction, motivation / inspiration are all extremely important.

6. Continual Lead Generation:

Your salespeople must always have “several irons in the fire” so they don’t pin all their hopes on just one sale coming through (or feeling dejected if it does not). Multiple sales should be “brewing” at all times. A good, consistent, ongoing Leads Generation program should be in place (Direct Mail, eMarketing, Advertising, Press Releases, etc). If you have a good product or service, get the word out proactively, in large numbers.

7. Acuity:

Observing what is working and what is not, and making ongoing course corrections is vital. Not to mention studying the competition, monitoring the markets, and innovating to stay ahead. Retaining good salespeople is sometimes harder than recruiting them, but treating them right and compensating them fairly would go a long way.

Conclusion:

You wanted to know how to increase sales — this is what it will take. If you want to increase sales or grow a business long term even in a recession or down economy, you must master these seven critical areas. This advice and sales tips can help you increase sales revenue steadily. Growing a business requires hard work in addition to just smart work. The sales growth advice above applies to entrepreneurs, small businesses as well as large companies who wish to grow their sales, even though the scale of implementation might differ.

Businesses may receive 10 Free Sales Assessment Tests from Dan Joy, Inc. Dan Joy (BS Engineering, MBA Marketing) is a Sales and Marketing scientist. Employers may receive 10 Free Sales Assessment Tests at http://www.danjoy.com/

Author: Dan Joy
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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