20 Sales Activities To Win Big in 2020
2020 is here!
This article shares a list of 20 must do tips to help your sales team win more deals. This list is for sales people, sales management, sales leaders that want their organizations to increase their sales and revenue, meanwhile serving their customers in the best way possible.
It is a list of 20 sales activities you will read a combination of suggested tools, ideas and managing techniques to increase sales.
Follow these 20 sales activities and watch your conversions increase 10-fold.
- Use big data
Offer data so your customers can see how your solution can help them beat their competition or get closer to their goals. If you cannot build the data in-house, find a supplier that can compile the data that makes sense for your customer.
2. Be proactive
If you receive a lead, answer within hours or at the latest within one working day. Early bird gets the worm.
3. Produce inbound leads
Make your solution desirable by finding something that attracts your potential customers to you! Create a lead magnet, or hire a Lead Generation company to help you. A lead generation company that can send you a load of qualified leads is https://morebizleads.com/
4. Make it easy for your potential customers
If your potential customer says they are going to send you an email about x, send them an email to remind them. Don′t expect your potential customers to take the lead in communicating with you. Make all contact with you easy and effortless.
5. Stop looking for requirements
Unless you are selling a specific widget, build a business case for your potential customer to take your services. If you cannot figure it out, you are not asking the right questions.
6. Help your hunters
Help your sales people by providing them leads so they are not using all their time finding and qualifying. Generate inbound leads (point 3), hire an inside sales team or a lead generation company to help you.
7. Make phone calls vs emails
The influx of emails is now overwhelming for all of us, hence the success of tools like Slack. If you want to make a difference, find the courage to call and or just show up. The probability of being ignored is lower!
8. Build a sales process for your team
Creating a documented sales process for your team helps you across the board in sales guidance, induction training, continuous coaching, and as an evaluation tool. It is an evergreen reference for your current and future sales team.
9. Map out your client′s buying process
Say goodbye to the typical ¨I don′t know the next step¨ and map out your (different) client′s buying processes. Find the common buying processes share them with your sales team. Together you can adapt your sales process (point 8) to match your typical client′s buying process.
10. Update your ideal customer profiles
As your products and services evolve so do your ideal client′s needs and challenges. Updating your ideal customer profiles and sharing that with your marketing and sales team gets everyone focused on the ¨next¨ customer in the same way.
11. Create value for your customer
One way to receive inbound leads (point 3) is to organize conferences or events that not only delight your existing and future customers, but also gives them new and updated information about your solutions. Segment this ¨value¨ aligned with your customer segments.
12. Focus on your teams
This tip is not only for sales teams, but for all teams. Focus on your employees by giving them appreciation, awards, contests, training and development. Employees do not leave companies, they leave bosses.
13. Consider using chatbots
Chatbots allow potential customers to ask questions without the pressure of a human salesperson on the other line directly. Take advantage of this dynamic by using chatbots to qualify leads through your website and on social media.
14. Nurture your leads through thought leadership
Write and publish articles that interest your customers. Share your ideas on their problems and watch how they will not forget you.
15. Align your sales and marketing teams
Make sure that your sales and marketing teams have the same customer focus and the same goals. Without frequent communication, a few mishaps can happen and then the blame game begins. Bring a marketing member into each pipeline review meeting to improve alignment. Read more here.
16. Upsell and cross-sell
It is much easier to sell to an existing client vs starting from scratch with a new one. Make your upselling and cross-selling strategy from the first contact with the potential customer, add it to your pipeline and drive it to create an increased client lifecycle.
17. Anticipate and address
Be the specialist that knows its client's needs, concerns and pain points before they do. Be proactive with your communication, recommendations, and follow-ups.
18. Make sales technology work for you
Automation technology can take care of tasks like documenting, client notes, scheduling appointments, and sending out follow up emails. Augmentation technology can help with next step recommendations (ie. upsell) and prospecting.
19. Add coaching sessions to your weekly reviews
Foster peer to peer learning by adding a sales coaching session to your review meetings each week that tackle real life client acquisition and retention problems. The sessions can be short and focused and experience-share helps everyone learn in a fun way.
20. Start smiling
Smiles have an evolutionary background of being the way animals show to others that they have no fear. Every salesperson wants to be seen as approachable, so smile and be approachable.
About the Author:
Jennifer has over 10 years of experience helping B2B businesses increase their conversion rates globally. She focuses on building and implementing the right sales processes for her client′s organizations to succeed in winning business with their target customer groups.
She works with a Management Consultancy, Freshstone Consulting and also publishes a sales blog on her personal brand, www.jenniferbaxavanis.com.