Salespeople have a tough job. They’re tasked with selling a company’s products and services, sometimes in the face of outstanding odds. Invariably, a lead slips through a salesperson’s fingers. Here’s how to keep it from becoming a habit on your team.
Minimize Clutter
If your salespeople have cluttered desks, this is a sign of disorganization. Sure, some people work better with clutter – a sort of disorganized organization. But, most people don’t. If you see sales slipping and lots of cluttered desks, that’s a clue you need to focus on organization to get your team back on track.
Review The Sales Lead Before The Call
Review your team’s sales leads before calling starts, or have each salesperson review his or her lead before making calls. This will better prepare the salesperson for the call. It might also help to review company literature, the website, and any existing sales material before making cold calls.
Set Daily Goals
Setting daily goals is important. Without goals, salespeople flounder, not really knowing where to go or what they should be achieving or striving for. That’s not really unique to salespeople though. Everyone needs daily goals or they will stagnate. If your team doesn’t have daily call and sales goals, make sure you start setting them for every salesperson.
Prequalify The Lead
There are some organizations that still operate on the assumption that a lead is anyone who fogs a mirror. But, this is just not true. Prospects are smarter and more sophisticated today. They resist sales tactics.
You need a sales system that prequalifies leads for you, or makes it easier to prequalify leads. High-probability sales means fewer rejections, improved morale, and improved revenue. That’s something everyone would like.
For example, if you’re in the mortgage business, it’s not enough to just approach everyone and anyone who wants to buy a home. You need good mortgage software to help you sift through lists of leads that just wouldn’t qualify for a loan, aren’t serious about buying, and want to buy but don’t have anything resembling a meaningful down payment.
If you’re wasting your time on low-probability sales, your sales team will constantly feel defeated, you’ll experience high turnover, and you’ll sit there spinning your wheels as you see salespeople come and go, while your organization treads water.
Plan For Improvement By Taking Notes
Too many salespeople out there don’t plan for improvement. They believe that a lost sale “somehow” could have been sold, but not by that salesperson. And, that it doesn’t matter and that they should move on to the next lead.
This is a somewhat wasteful mentality because it doesn’t reinforce good learning habits. When a sale isn’t closed, there’s always a reason. It may not be the salesperson’s fault, but the salesperson should at least understand that and try to figure out what could have changed.
Most of the time, it’s even beneficial to ask the prospect straight up, “what would have to change in order to earn your business today?” Most people will tell you, and it might not be something you can change, but at least you’ll know.
And, as they say, knowing is half the battle.
Richard Reyes is a sales office manager with a penchant for organization. When he’s not working, he likes to share his experiences with others online. Look for his posts on a number of sales and business websites.
