February 27, 2024
It's the secret that everyone in business wants to know - how to make your sales skyrocket?
Going through your basic business checklist, you've probably already ticked the boxes for stellar product and rock-solid team - so why isn't that being reflected in your bottom line?
The problem is that no matter how brilliant your product offering or friendly your sales patter is, there are only so many hours in a day. If your sales and marketing processes aren't streamlined to maximise that time, you're unfortunately setting yourself up for disappointment.
The key to improving your bottom line is to work more efficiently, with a clearer vision and purpose, and utilise cutting-edge technologies to achieve top results. So how do you do that?
1. Keep your eye on the target
Do you know who your target buyer is? By having a clear understanding of your core market, their buying styles and whether they need to be educated to your offering, you will be better placed to spot quality leads and adjust your sales patter to connect with clients on both an intellectual and emotional level. Once defined, keeping that core buyer in mind will enable you to prospect for new leads more effectively as you know exactly who and what to look for.
2. Prospect with purpose
The rapid development of social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter has brought with it a wealth of potential client leads ready to be accessed. The trick is quickly identifying those prospects that you'll have the greatest success rate with. Remember, you want value not time-wasting volume. Use what you know about your target buyer to help you narrow the field to quality, qualified leads that you'll more likely be able to convert into sales.
3. Get top tech support
Lead generation technologies should become your 'best friend'. They are an incredibly easy way to boost your pipeline while spending less time generating leads. Lead generation companies such as Sella can take the first two steps I mentioned off your hands. They can even begin the outreaching process for you, freeing up your time and energy to focus on what's most important - closing the deal! Lead generation technologies are also a far more cost effective way of generating leads than old-school outbound sales strategies, as you're basically hiring a research and execution team without the hefty overheads.
4. Reach out
Do you have a range of outreaching templates prepared and ready to go? If not, utilise your knowledge of you target buyer to develop a range of templates based on the usual responses you will receive from your outreaching efforts. If this process seems too time-consuming, contact your lead generation contractor, as they will have a range of tried-and-tested templates available, or will be able to tailor-make templates for you, like these examples from Hubspot.
5. Where's your workflow?
How are you tracking your workflow? A sales workflow is a series of repeatable steps that map out and track interaction with prospects from their first point of engagement with your business all the way through to a close. By keeping a record of your workflow, you're able to track where your leads are in the sales pipeline and ensure that none of your potentially lucrative falls through the sales funnel.
6. CRM is not just another tech acronym
If you aren’t already, you really should be using some form of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool, as they help to clearly map out your sales pipeline. The database should outline each of your prospects, with details of their interactions with your business to date, where they sit in your sales funnel and what action needs to be taken next. By having all of that information on hand in the one place, you are able to maximise your time by prioritising prospects accordingly, as your CRM should help you to know who to call when and what you need to say to them to close the deal.
7. Calendar can do
Another piece of tech you should be utilising to better manage your time is Calendly. This is an appointment setting app that has been designed so that people are able to cross-check each other's diaries and automatically schedule time on each other's calendars. If you combine your Google calendar with Calendly you will be able to ensure that your potential prospects are always able to fit you into your schedule and you are always on the same page. It's a very easy way to keep track of all your priorities in a much more efficient way.
Remember, time is money when you're trying to close sales. Streamline your systems and use technologies to improve efficiencies, and you will see improved results.
For more information on how to increase your sales potential, check out Sella's guide to creating an effective outbound marketing plan!
