Five Effective Hacks To Supercharge Your Sales Productivity
When it comes to sales, the number one priority is your bottom line. How do you get one more client, engage one more prospect, close one more contract? Here are 5 effective hacks to supercharge your sales productivity, and ultimately exceed your sales goals.
This article was originally posted on my company’s website which be viewed here.
Crush Distraction Like your Life Depends On It
First, kill distractions like your life depends on it. It can be so easy to be distracted in today’s world of social media, texting, and even phone calls. At the end of the day, taking those extra 15 minutes to check your Instagram account or five minutes to call your friend can be the difference in a sales call that could bring in another client. So, what do you do? Next time you find yourself reaching for your phone, ask yourself, is it worth it? What am I gaining right now? Is this adding anything to my day, or is it detracting from it?
Now, it’s important to take breaks every so often to re-charge. The best sales professionals work in sprints. But try and do that at set times throughout the day. You can set a calendar appointment at say 10:30am that says, “go get a coffee,” or “take 5 minutes for yourself.” By creating a calendar appointment that allots a certain amount of time, you can be sure to keep yourself from being distracted, while also giving yourself a few important minutes to recharge.
Keep Your Leads and Contacts Organized At All Costs
Another effective hack is to STAY ORGANIZED with your leads and contacts. Come up with a system. It could be as simple as a Google Sheet. I don’t really care. DO SOMETHING. If you’re already using a sales CRM, then make damn sure you actually use it!
Don’t just stop with their name, contact information and company. Go a step further. What did you discuss on your last call? Did they bring up their dog, kids or where they are located? You can create a column in excel called “personal information” and load that up with everything you discussed. Then create a calendar appointment in outlook with a follow up action. Maybe next time you send them an email you can ask how their new puppy is doing? They’ll appreciate that you remembered the conversation and will be more likely to want to continue working with you. You’d be amazed how keeping yourself detailed and organized can save you time, streamline your efficiency, and ultimately, increase your bottom line.
What’s Your Daily Sales Routine Look Like?
Another effective hack is having a set daily routine and process for WHEN you reach out to prospective clients. This is especially effective if you’re cold calling or doing any type of outbound sales outreach. Remember that outlook appointment that you made for coffee? Create another one from 10:30am — 12:30pm that simply says “cold call.” This keeps you accountable. It can be easy to say, “I’ll get to that later,” but if it’s on your calendar appointment, there isn’t much room for excuses.
Plus, if you are scheduling follow up calls or appointments with prospective clients, you will know to steer clear of that time of day (if possible), which will guarantee you always have those two hours allotted for cold calling.
Is Your Focus Cold Outreach or Follow Up?
Decide if you’re focusing on “cold outreach” today or “follow up.” These are NOT one-in-the same. Cold outbound prospecting is literally starting “cold” trying to engage prospects. Follow up is required for the prospects you’ve already made contact with. We recommend separating the two tasks and not doing them in the same window of time. Split up your days. So, for example, Monday, Wednesday, Friday could be Cold outreach day and Tuesday, Thursday could be follow-up day. Feel free to mix this up week over week so it’s not always the same.
True Hustle Is About Consistency
Finally, if you just had a huge sales win, KEEP GOING. Think about it. You just received that signed contract, securing a deal you’ve been working on for months. How are you feeling right now? Excited? Motivated? This is the perfect time to cold call. Momentum breathes momentum and there’s something to be said about striking when the iron’s hot.
Now it’s still important to have set times to do this throughout your week but taking an occasional detour when and if you are feeling your absolute best is never a bad idea. Think about it, if you received a call and the person was energized and excited, how likely are you to continue that conversation? As salespeople we tend to ride a “rollercoaster of emotions,” from securing a customer here and losing one there. Take advantage of the times you are feeling your best. Why not turn that one client into two or three? Congratulate yourself, get yourself another cup of coffee and make the call. After all, that’s what sales is all about, right?
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