Five Tips For Sales Professionals

There is a universal truth when it comes to being an effective sales professional: you can have the greatest product or service in the world, but your business will fail if your sales process is inefficient.

Here are a few tips you can follow to achieve maximum productivity with less effort:

5. Never Stop Learning

Training doesn’t end as soon as you’re out making sales. There are always areas where you can improve yourself, so always take advantage of opportunities to be better. Attend conferences, take up an online course, read blogs of industry experts or ask for help from a professional mentor. Don’t think of this as wasted time that you can spend making sales. After all, if you invest in education now, you’re sure to reap the rewards later on.

4. Prioritize, Prioritize, Prioritize

Sometimes it’s not just about getting things done, but knowing which things matter. Not having a system makes for a messy process that can cost you sales. Focus on tasks that will make the biggest impact on reaching your goal and take the least time to finish. Finding out which tasks these are will require a lot of thought but it’s essential to do this first. When that’s done, you can then do tasks that aren’t too complex but don’t have a lot of impact. The last step is to avoid tasks or distractions that are complex, time-consuming and offer little impact to your sales numbers.

3. Build Long-Term Relationships With Your Clients

The allure of getting a sale using not-so-ethical but effective means may be strong, but know that it’ll cost you in the long run. Value relationships and provide the best customer service that you can so you gain repeat clients. These same clients will spread the word and soon you’ll be benefiting from their own network. Studies show that most sales come from repeat customers and referrals so don’t neglect your client’s needs!

2. Practice Delayed Gratification

As tempting as it is to procrastinate or skip a workday, do your best to work on delaying gratification. Train yourself to do the work first before getting a reward. Don’t take it to the extremes and restrict yourself from any gratification though. Always remember to reward yourself when you deserve it!

1. Go Mobile

You’re already constantly on the move, so why not bring your business with you? There are so many tools available that allow you to increase your efficiency and all of them are available on your smartphone or tablet. Check out productivity apps that are perfect for the busy sales professional like you. Some popular examples include Evernote for note-taking, Pulse for staying in-the-know about your market and Dropbox for accessing files anywhere you are.

Remember: even a few hours of delay can cost you a sales opportunity so it’s important to be available wherever you are, even while you’re travelling. A quick response can mean an even quicker sale!