If you are like a lot of my clients, you are tired of mediocre sales results and just “getting by”. It’s time to stop tolerating what isn’t working and create a sales plan that will take you where you want to go. Remember, in sales the sky is the limit, but you have to get REALLY clear on what you want. When you ask for what you REALLY want (in terms of your sales goals), you will be amazed at the prospects and opportunities that show up for you—that were there all of the time!
In the following paragraphs, I am going to help you discover the “7 C’s of Selling—What You Must Know Now!”. My intention is to help you rediscover your desire to help solve problems for your top 20% of prospects, so you can easily reach your sales goals. Remember, it is MORE than possible!
#1: Clear
First and foremost, if you want to easily reach your sales stretch goals, you must be crystal clear on two things. First, you must be clear on your sales goals—your exact numbers and how to get there. Second, you must be crystal clear on who your “Ideal Client” is—that client who really represents your Top 20%. When you are clear on those two areas, you can then break down your action items for the month to reach those goals. And, you will be able to identify exactly who you need to call.
#2: Call
Once you have clarity, you can move on to calling those prospects you have identified as your Top 20% based on your activity goals for the month. In other words, how many prospects do you need to talk to in order to reach your goals? This number should be based on your overall closing ratio. If you don’t know your closing ratio, then just use an estimate of 50%. The important thing is that you get into action and you begin to contact those ideal prospects.
#3: Care
As you begin you call your prospects, it’s important that you care. What do I mean by that? You have to care about your clients and their best interest. When you keep their best interest in mind, that translates over the phone. People sense that from you. When they believe that you have their best interest in mind, it’s much more likely that they will trust you enough to do business with you. Remember the old sales adage, “People need to feel like they know you, like you and trust you before they will do business with you”. Put their best interest first and you will never go wrong.
#4: Courage
It takes courage to make cold or warm calls—believe me, I know! I’ve made thousands of sales calls over the course of my career and I know that sometimes you have to dive deep to find the courage you really need. Remember, though, that if you don’t call those prospects who you know you can help, you are actually doing them a disservice. Think about it. If you don’t help them, and you allow someone else to step in when you KNOW that you can make a difference, then you are doing a disservice. Plus, it takes a lot of courage to also be honest with your prospects in order to provide the best solutions for them. If you aren’t honest, you cannot help them.
#5: Creative
When you are willing to do whatever it takes to help your prospects and clients, then you realize that sometimes you have to get creative to find the appropriate solution. When you are on the phone or in a meeting with your prospect, you might need to dig really deep to come up with a solution that will be the best fit for them. Or, you might have to come up with a really creative payment of financing plan to help this prospect. When you are willing to do whatever it takes, you will probably be pleasantly surprised to see how many new clients you have!
#6: Consistent
Whether it’s your marketing strategy or how you show up in a room, you have to be consistent. We don’t buy from people or companies who aren’t consistent in their messaging. You’ve seen this before. You meet someone at an event and you have a great connection and you think “Wow, I’d really like to do business with this person!” And then you see them at another event two months later and they completely blow you off, or they show up in a different and unexpected way which somehow seems out of alignment with who they are. My guess is that you might not be so eager to do business with them. It’s the same for us. We have to show up as our most authentic selves consistently to gain the clients who we really desire.
#7: Close
Once you’ve done all of the above, then it’s time to close the sale. After all, we don’t have a new client unless we have a signed contract and payment. While this seems obvious, I find that most people aren’t closing the amount of sales that they desire because this is the place they get “stuck”. At a recent Sales Camp class, one of our attendees said, “Objections aren’t Rejections”! That’s it! When you receive an objection from a client, don’t give up. Often questions and objections are buying signs, but they just need to have more of their questions answered. Keep going and be willing to say, “What’s it going to take for me to earn your business today?”
Statistics tell us that many of the “big deals” are closed after the 3rd “no”. How many of us are willing to take that many no’s and keep calling? How many of us are willing to not take things personally and know that our job is to provide a service for our clients and prospects and if we don’t keep asking, that cannot happen? One of my favorite books is by Don Miguel Ruiz, “The Four Agreements”. I have been referencing it more and more because this “taking it personally” issue keeps popping up in many of the seminars that I teach. Don teaches us that we shouldn’t take anything personally because ultimately it’s not about us, we are just projecting old feelings onto situations. I challenge you to become aware of your own projections and feelings to realize that maybe a “no” isn’t personal—maybe you’re just two “no’s” from a yes.
