Here's the big lie I told myself and the simple change you can make to level up your sales!

"Welcome to all new subscribers! If you enjoy this newsletter and think a friend might benefit from it, please invite them to join our community. My goal is to provide valuable insights to companies, showrooms, and salespeople who primarily work with interior designers. I aim to help you build stronger, more consistent, and sustainable sales while giving designers more time to focus on growing their own businesses.".

After being an interior designer, I was a seller and then a seller/manager for 18 years. Here was my routine every six months.

1. Get a new collection (usually in August, then January)
2. I sit on my floor and review all the new products with glee as I now have something new to show my clients. I knew I could now get that coveted appointment. (we need new product to get in the door, was my cry and belief)
3. I'd price, coordinate, and bundle it in my bag, and it's ready to launch! I'm so excited!
4. Sit down and call to see first (1) who I deemed were my big accounts—isn't there more of a chance they will buy something if they are big and busy? (2) had lots of projects—checking that great Interior Design 100 list—so happy when I find Chicago designers on it (3) fill in with other accounts as I knew I was supposed to make as many calls as I could in a week, show as much product, and leave as many samples as I could or they wanted. (4) had that one project that produced one big sale (surely that will happen again). That was the strategy for success!

I am also proud to say I was a good salesperson who consistently met my sales goals. However, occasionally, my sales were down. My boss would talk with me about it and how I had to increase those sales.

I had no one to tell me HOW, only WHAT I had to do. I had no strategy except to pump up what I was doing, so I just believed I was not doing enough. I had to focus my time on being busier to increase my sales.

That was, unknowingly, the big lie. I told myself. I was probably missing out on opportunities because I just wasn't doing enough. I had to do more. I had to be busier!

So my answer was:

Go faster, call on more people, show more product....busy, busy, busy. I was convinced busy was going to garner more sales! My answer was, the busier I was the more my sales would increase. The more follow up the better. I would do whatever I was asked to do from my clients -- no questions (or very few) and wait for that sale to appear. I thought interest and follow up automatically produced sales.

Fast forward 23 years, and boy, have things changed dramatically in our industry.

1. There is more competition than ever.
2. More products than ever, including many interior designers doing more licensing for product lines or starting their own lines.
3. The Internet enables more research and knowledge for both designers and their clients.
4. Social Media- More information is coming to us and our clients.
5. Retail -- different perception than when I was in sales and a viable choice for many.
6. COVID -- 1.5 years of designers doing a lot of business without seeing a rep or showroom. (enter supply line problems!)
7. Showrooms are moving out of major design centers that are suffering or in foreclosure.

However, the approach to generating sales has mostly stayed the same. How do I know?

I have served as a National Sales Director for two companies and currently conduct sales calls with sellers through my consultancy. My work involves collaborating with showrooms, product companies, and salespeople. When I accompany salespeople on their calls, I consistently observe similar patterns—continuing to mainly focus on beautiful products, asking questions that may or may not reveal a current need, and going from appointment to appointment, leaving or ordering lots and lots of samples for designers and into the car—off to the next appointment.

Add to that a myriad of emails, phone calls, and texts from clients who reciprocally love their reps, and that recipe produces busy, busy, busy.

You're getting sales, but at what cost? Sustained sales requires more than simply going after a sale. It requires a strong strategic approach.

So, my good friends, what is the antidote? What is the shift, you ask? There's good news, but first:

We have to be very honest with what we are doing! Let's take a really hard look and ask:

Are we continuing to perpetuate this lie that being incredibly busy is better? Or is there an easier, gentler way?

This is never about insulting my fellow sellers—that's not me! It's about honesty, what I have learned through years of my own missteps, and then honing in on what works better. Now, I want to share these with all of you.

Let's look at two different approaches:

This image illustrates what I did for 18 years and what I continue to see salespeople do. We call on busy firms, but it is not always clear if they need our products at that time (or ever—that happened to me!). We spend most of the time showing beautiful products, romancing them, and then giving lots of samples while focusing less on whether they are the right clients with the right needs and who can build a sustainable business for us.

And the questions and objections (doesn't fit in the budget, not enough stock, can't produce that exact product the designer needs, lead time doesn't work -- please find something else) continue long after the meeting to keep us really busy! That's what happens when the seller does not match the product to the project at the right time.

Yes, there are times we can be there at the right time and place, but do we want to base our long-term sales results on chance? Will that form loyalty? Is chance a strategy?

Let's be honest and ask -- Are we more times than not there at the right time in the clients buying cycle with the right solution --that sweet spot? The one that more often results in sales?

This approach has been successful with my clients, producing remarkable results, ranging from 10% growth in 6 months to a staggering 300% growth over two years when combined with data to identify these clients.

It is truly simple. Effective time management is key, even starting with phone conversations before in-person meetings.

Here's the Big Results:

1. You are spending more time with the right clients—those who value and can use what you sell—your tribe!
2. Gaining more trust from clients that you are there to help with a laser focus on making their jobs easier. You'll get in that door more often!
3. Clients will become more loyal (if they are the right clients!), which will produce sustainable sales.
4. This focus cuts through the clutter of other products, social media, and retail.
5. There will be more opportunities, fewer objections, and less wasted time on emails, phones, and texts. You will become valuable in addition to your product.
6. Less time you are finding "another" solution.

And best of all!

You'll be saving time for both YOU and DESIGNERS with far less busy work! And you're producing results!

One last thing. I always want everyone to know we need new products, marketing, and social media. Of course, we do, and we need samples and quotes and all of those. We are in an industry that sets trends with new offerings.

In addition, we also need to create a strategic plan for selling. This valuable roadmap allows us to measure our progress quickly and make swift adjustments if necessary by readjusting where we spend our (and our clients') valuable time.

I now offer a valuable "Growth Assessment" for any company or showroom. We'll look at your current practices and see if there are ways to improve the process based on my extensive experience and successes.

It's a very affordable way to get a roadmap for your company and learn how to improve your results.

Here's a question and answer from my interview with the President of a well-known, high-end luxury showroom.

What would it be if you had to boil down my contributions to one benefit for a company? "Improvement. The needle always moves forward."

Click here to learn more, and DM me on LinkedIn.