There are only a few possible ways to increase your sales, either sell to more customers, sell more stuff to the same amount of customers, or raise your prices. A good business plan should incorporate at least a couple of these selling strategies depending on your model.
A client recently shared with me that she found the sales process to be difficult and it pushed a lot of her buttons and took her beyond her comfort zone.
It takes effort to connect with prospects, it also takes time and energy to schedule conversations, and it does take courage to ask for the sale. I agreed with my client, all of these things absorb time, effort, and adrenaline in my business as well.
The trick is to find ways to be as efficient as possible, and minimize the time and stress that goes hand in hand with running a business that is profitable.
The profits and longevity of our business depends on dealing with these issues head on.
(I will be going in depth with these strategies in my new program www.EnvisionMastermind.com)
The good news is that we can improve the effect of these aspects that can be challenging and uncomfortable.
- Change your perception: If something feels uncomfortable, often we can make it more comfortable by simply changing our mindset about it. We can choose to feel awkward about talking to clients and selling our products or service, or we can view each conversation with a prospect as an opportunity to simply see how we can help them, and detaching ourselves from the outcome. A friendly conversation with potential customers is really just a chat about what they need help with, and your suggestion of how you can help them. Embracing the knowledge that they are investing in themselves and a solution takes the pressure off and will result in a better outcome for everyone.
- Embrace your strengths: It’s easier to capitalize on your strengths, gifts, talents and passion when we eliminate energy sucking weaknesses. I believe that every successful entrepreneur must master sales skills, but there is always the opportunity to hire salespeople and delegate that part of your business while you are working on turning your sales challenges into a strength.
- Be picky: Over the years my team and I have learned to give more scrutiny to people who want a spot on my calendar. I have become clear about who my ideal clients are, and what attributes they have, so I can put screening tactics in place. This protects my time, and also ensures that I talk only to people who are likely to be a good fit for my services, and doesn’t waste my time or my prospects time.
- Be Proactive: What completely changed my business in a matter of moments was implementing a proactive client attraction process that made sure I was actively and consistently connecting with prospective clients so that my calendar is always filled with enough appointments that ensure I have a steady steam of clients.
Too many business owners wait for the phone to ring and rely on a passive approach to business building. Gravy is to sauce something “meaty”, it doesn’t have the consistency to BE the main dish. Right? ;)
Which of these sales strategies do you need to implement into your sales strategy starting today? I invite you to leave me a comment, I’d be happy to give you some feedback or answer your questions. Thanks for reading.