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Most of you are sales reps that scan the sales landscape for ways to improve! You focus on your sales motivation with great care, never forgetting that you are indeed responsible for your level of success! Here are some more tips that will resonate with you!! Prospecting Timeline: At certain times in the year, most people are working hard to make their numbers. Yet, at the same time, many have no idea how long it takes to turn a prospect into a profitable customer. Creating a "prospecting timeline" can help benchmark past experiences and streamline future ones. Begin this process by examining a few recent customers, and then break down the key activities you went through. Your goal should be to determine the specific activities that were the most time consuming, and then figure out a way to shorten the time spent on that particular step. Most people are amazed to find that a couple of activities take the majority of time. By knowing this, you can work to alter the selling process. Know Your Customer's Customer: How much do you know about your customer's customer? It doesn't matter if you sell B2B or B2C, the question still demands an answer. I work with too many salespeople who, when asked this question, have only a shallow answer. Take the time to find out all you can about what motivates your customer's customers. Spend time with them, talk to them, and, most of all, get to know what drives their decision-making process. When you can identify this information, you can then provide your customer with even better service. Have you Learned Something New? : There is always something new you can learn about your customers, whether they are newly acquired or long-term accounts. It's amazing how customers change! Unless you keep up-to-date knowledge about them, you will soon find they've changed and you haven't. After each sales call, ask yourself what you learned about the customer and, of course, make sure you record it in your customer profile. Benchmark Your Sales Goal: At the end of each day and each week, compare your accomplishments to your overall sales goal. If you achieved the volume you needed to hit your goal, congratulate yourself! If you didn't, identify at least one thing that did go right and might help you achieve your goal in time. Always find something positive to end the day with. Before you leave, don't forget to set up the next day or week! The last thing you want to do is use those very productive first minutes of the day doing anything but selling. "Google" a Customer/Prospect: Looking for a reason to contact a customer or a prospect? Search their name and/or their company's' name on Google.com to see if there are any listings for them. You'll be astonished at what you can find concerning your customers/prospects or others with their same name. Regardless of the outcome, the search should give you some interesting antidotes you can use on the next contact. When that contact is made, the customer/prospect will be amazed you took the time to do the search, and if you do find something in reference to them, you'll have the perfect subject to talk about. Don't Present All Your Information: Never plan to present all of your information on a sales call. If you do, you'll have nothing left to show the customer should you reach the end of your presentation without a sale. The keys to a successful sales call are to know your information so well and to be so prepared that you do not need to present everything to gain the sale. Focus Point 52. Creating a newsletter will get you in front of potential clients. We've already discussed how Tom transformed his cold calling into warm calling by using a "Where Are They Now?" column in his local real estate farm. This technique immediately reduced the resistance he faced, and the fact that he actually was a classmate of many of the sons and daughters of his prospects also helped him tremendously. But even if you don't have a similar personal advantage to rely on, newsletters still provide substantial benefits. For instance, in rapidly appreciating markets for all industries, a newsletter can alert people to where the market is by including the latest sales information. This concept applies to financial news, too, such as the latest information on returns on types of investment. Creating a newsletter (ideally, with assistance, research and resources from your firm) makes you an authority figure for the recipients. That gives you a perfect platform for gaining their respect and trust in the future. In the legal arena, online and printed newsletters can be invaluable in placing you in front of new prospects. If you are the leading authority on a given subject or area of practice, why not share that fact with as many potential and existing clients as possible? Now you can follow me on Twitter @leslielgroene Find Leslie on LinkedIn: August 28, 2015: Printing Industries of America Launches Power Selling Program Read Press Release Learn more about Leslie Click here to see video Leslie named Leadership Excellence Top 100 Upcoming Events Click here to see event schedule Leslie's book Click here to buy now Talk of the Town Click here to see Leslie's Interview Washington Post Click here to read the article For a list of upcoming Los Angeles and National sales events Click here Here is 1 more of the Focus Points from Leslie's book, co-authored by Tom Mills and available on her website www.groeneconsulting.com