How Do You Work Smarter, Not Just Harder in Sales

Posted June 7, 2017

Many salespeople say the only way to get more sales is through more work. This isn't necessarily true.

There are two popular ways to boost sales. One is to raise your closing ratio, which is the quantity of sales you close versus the amount of sales opportunities you have. The other is to improve the average amount of each sale.

By intelligently boosting these two means, you can significantly boost your sales without applying much more energy. The following are a few ways to boost your sales without running yourself ragged.

Get rid of excess work

As a salesperson, you need to focus all your time on sales. Hand over any responsibilities that don't immediately raise your sales to someone else.

If you commit all your attention to selling, you'll have a lot more time than you even need to sell. By using that additional time as personal time, you'll discover you can actually lower your stress level while growing your sales.

Stop putting a primary focus on purchasers

Individuals with titles like "purchaser" have a limited purview and are constantly being inundated with sales pitches.

Whenever possible, aim for top decision makers with your sales efforts. Chief executives, directors and any other big decision makers are people who have the final say on purchasing decisions and they manage the biggest budgets in an organization.

Even when you can’t sell directly to a company president, you can sell at a higher level. Aim for those who have more responsibility and you’ll close more sales and raise the average size of your sale.

Expand your network

If you don't constantly grow your network of contacts, you'll be forced to regularly make cold calls. Cold phone calls might present you with leads, but they're very difficult work. Requesting introductions is pretty easy, and may actually lead to better results.

When it comes to expanding your network, hold yourself accountable and ask for introductions to new people regularly. Force yourself to request one introduction each week, or a number of introductions each day. Write down a goal and stick to it. Eventually, some of these introductions will bear fruit.

Focus on providing value

Many salespeople mistakenly over-emphasize the features and benefits of what they are selling. The simple truth is, your prospective customers aren't interested in a product or service per se - they want positive outcomes.

By concentrating on the outcomes you can generate for your clients, you'll showcase the value you can provide. Consequently, you'll close more sales, and sales of greater value, boosting your closing ratio and average sale amount.

Inquire about budget

While it might be difficult to find out this kind of information, learning a prospective buyer's spending budget allows you to be on the same page as your potential customer. When sales people have to guess at the budget, they often make a conservative estimate and assume it’s smaller than it really is. When you realize the budget is higher than you thought, it makes it much easier to boost the size of your sale.

At Ambassador, we help sales professionals take the next step on their career path. Please contact us today to work with a full-service staffing agency!