I was recently speaking with my husband, Tim, and sharing how much easier it is to grow your business when you have momentum. It seems like an obvious statement, but momentum can be seemingly elusive at times. Tim turned to me and said, “That’s interesting! Our CEO was just saying the same thing today when he was delivering his keynote.”
Ah, synchronicity. You gotta love it! Tim happens to work for a multi-billion dollar company based in Minnesota, so I took that as a sign that I was on the right track.
But the elusive question is, “How do you get sales momentum? And then, once you have it, how do you keep it?”
Momentum is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as, “force or speed of movement; impetus, as of a physical object or course of events.” For me, momentum shows up when speaking opportunities and clients seemly show up “out of the blue.” When it feels like I haven’t been doing anything different except focusing on truly enjoying my clients and my business, then it all seems to happen really fast.
I love to reverse engineer things. If you’ve ever experienced two days at Sales Camp with me, you will hear me continually saying, “Well, great. Let’s work backwards from the end result.” Or, I might say, “Excellent! Let’s work backwards from what you really want.”
So, when I reverse engineered sales momentum—how to get there and how to stay there—I found some pretty interesting ideas.
3 Ways to Get It
- Get Clear. If you don’t know where you want to go, I promise that you will never get there. You have to get clear on what you want first and foremost. What is your annual sales “stretch” goal? Why? What’s the plan for all of that money you want to bring in? If you don’t have a plan for your money, it’s like it doesn’t know where it needs to go. I love Dave Ramsey (Radio Host and Financial Planner) because all of his training reminds people that they have a crystal clear plan for where they want their money to go. Get your sales plan and then get your money plan. Clarity is what will set momentum in motion.
- Define Your Numbers. Once you get a clear sales plan, you can increase your sales momentum simply by breaking the numbers down and reverse engineering them (there’s that term again.). I want you to know exactly how many appointments you need every single month and week in order to reach your sales goal. Here’s our simple sales formula to help you figure it out:
- Sales Stretch Goal ($10,000 per month)
- / Average Sale ($1,000)
- X 2 (Estimating a 50% Sales Closing Ratio)
- = 20 (# of Appointments you Need)
Once you have the number of appointments you need (in this case, 20), then you can open up 20 appointment slots on your calendar to fill. And, I mean it. You actually need to open up those appointment times on your calendar. You’d be surprised how quickly they begin to fill up. Remember, clarity leads to sales momentum!
- Create a Sales Plan. Now that you know your sales goals and the way the numbers break down, it’s time to create a sales plan, which includes, believe it or not, marketing! The question is, if you need 20 appointments, where will they come from? What marketing activities have you chosen to fill that funnel? Again, it’s time to reverse engineer. So, what are the top three marketing activities that would be the fastest and easiest way for you to reach your target of 20 qualified appointments? (Qualified appointments would be defined as those clients who are ideal for you.)
3 Ways to Keep It
- Track it. Once you’ve got sales momentum, how do you keep it? You track it! We recommend that you use both a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool like Act, Goldmine or ZOHO and a WIP (Work in Progress) report. The CRM will help you keep track of ALL of your contacts and what you have talked with them about. The WIP report will allow you to track your Top 20-50 hottest sales prospects and your next step with each of them. This gives you a clear picture of your sales pipeline. Statistically, only 25% of most pipelines will close every month, so it’s critical to ensure that you are continually building your sales pipeline to reach your goals!
- Be Intentional: I wrote “Selling with Intention” because I wanted everyone to be intentional in every step they took in their sales process. Let’s reverse engineer again. It’s important to begin by creating a very intentional schedule that honors your sales stretch goal. In other words, if you need 20 appointments per month, then your intentional schedule should have those times open on your calendar. Further, if you want to really take a quantum leap, then move all of your appointments so they fall before the 15th of each month. (Really, put your seat belt on if you do that.) Then, create the rest of your calendar so it supports all of your sales goals and ALSO supports your well-being. Yes, add in down time for exercise, prayer, meditation, etc.
- Get clear and intentional in your conversations: Last, but certainly not least, you have to know what you are going to say and be clear in all of your interactions and conversations. I like to think of them as “Intentional Sales Conversations” that are also authentic. Your intention in each conversation should be to show up and serve your prospects by knowing that you can solve their problem and offering them times when you can meet with them. By keeping it that simple and easy, and by offering choices, your new intentional schedule is guaranteed to be overflowing with appointments.
Tony Robbins is quoted as saying, “Success comes from taking the initiative and following up… persisting… eloquently expressing the depth of your love. What simple action could you take today to produce a new momentum toward success in your life?”
What a perfect way to end this piece by really asking yourself that question: “What simple action am I willing to take today to reach my sales stretch goal?” Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, but TODAY. Write it down. Take action!
