Tips for Sales Sucess for Small Businesses

Write down your personal goals daily. Write down sales goals as well as profitability goals. It is just something about writing down your goals which should lead to a written plan of action to accomplish those goals.

Think positive. There is nothing worse than talking yourself out of success. The bible says “So a man thinketh so is he.” Decide today to let go of any negative thoughts and take complete control of your mind.

Always be closing. This has to be a mindset. You want to close the sale. You don’t want to waste your time nor do you want to waste your customer’s time. And while your customer is waiting to be closed you are offering something that they have already been sold on or just talking unnecessarily. Always move the sale along with each contact. Set a goal for meeting.

Ask for the sale. You never know until you ask-so always ask for the sale. “Nothing happens until you close the sale.”

Listen to encouraging/self help sales audio while in the car. This goes without saying-Garbage in Garbage out. We have to put the right things in so at the right times the right things will come out.

Attend a seminar at least twice a year on sales (4 times a year if you really want to see growth). The only thing that will make you better is learning from others and taking action. This can save you years of time and tons of money.

Read 1 hour a day on some part of the sales process. This is the same as above. The sales process includes so many areas including questioning, qualifying, overcoming objections and on and on. You will constantly have to learn new things in order to stay above the competition.

Be prepared. There is nothing worse than showing up to see a client and you don’t have what is necessary to close the sale. This destroys your credibility. Prepare a system that will take a little tweaking for each client. Write out the sales process from start to finish from the initial contact to closing the sale.

Arrive on time. Leave a little early. Prepare for the unexpected whether it is a train, traffic detours or whatever may happen that would make you late.

Know your Product/Service features and benefits. You should know your product inside out. There shouldn’t be any hesitation on what your competitive advantage, Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and your brand.

Listen for buying signs. Hit the hot buttons. What makes your customer respond? Speak in their language. Listen closely to customers. Rephrase what customer says.

Know your target market. Who are your customers really? What is their buying process? What problem are you solving?

Have responses prepared for objections. Know the top 10 objections for each product or service you offer. Listen for what your customer isn’t saying. Sometimes your customer is unaware of what they need or want. Determine what keeps them up at night. Become a problem solver or solutions provider. Give them the answers they desire in the simplest form.

Test what you are doing. Try new things. Take some risks. Keep what works and test and try new things for what doesn’t.

Know your company’s sales history. What has worked in the past? What hasn’t worked? While sales is a numbers game you can improve your numbers. Know your numbers.

Don’t give up. Keep trying testing different ways of doing things. Stay positive. Learn from your mistakes.

Find out what your competition is doing. It is important to know your competition. How can you be different and better if you don’t? Knowing your competition and studying trends can catapult your business.