“How do I increase sales?”
Every business owner at one point (or several) or another has pondered this one! It’s amazing how many problems in a business seem smaller when sales are good. Think about it: Morale is higher, optimism spreads and there’s a little breathing room to pay the bills. For these reasons alone it makes sense to focus like a laser beam on bringing ‘bacon’ into the company!
Increasing sales doesn’t fix everything, but it sure helps the cause!
Let’s take a moment and pretend you’re in need of more revenue. How are you going to make it happen? Today, I want to talk about one thing, in fact the key thing in making sure your business grows its sale by at least 25% in the next 12 months!
Check it out….
a $100k small business + 25% is another $2100 per month
a $300k small business + 25% is another $6,250 per month
a $800k small business + 25% is another $16,700 per month
How much impact would that additional income have in your business?
In order to get you moving toward that kind of growth it will take a commitment to making it happen. The most important ingredient?
Develop Winning Habits
Jerry Rice, the greatest Wide Receiver to ever play professional football, scored more touchdowns than any receiver in NFL history. He did it by running to the end zone each time he caught a ball in practice. He simply developed the habit of getting to the end zone by making sure he got there every day. It didn’t matter what the drill was in practice…he ran to the end zone!
Exploding Sales in Your Business
In order to blow the roof off your sales, you must develop the habits that top sales people possess. Great sales people plant seeds daily, follow up daily and continually offer help and value to their clients. The top ‘brain’ experts say it takes about three weeks to develop a habit. So, pick an area that you need to develop and commit to it daily for 3 weeks.
If you suck at prospecting, then commit to developing the habit. Come hell or high water you make it a point to develop & implement a prospecting plan. One of my clients recently made this commitment…and is doing the work…and, you guessed it…HER BUSINESS IS GROWING!
If you are in the habit of blowing off your follow-up calls, then commit to a certain time each week to sit down with your pending proposals and dial the phone. One home improvement client of mine has implemented that practice and developed the habit. The result? An increase of 15% in their closing rates, which equates to about $18,000 of closed business per month !
Developing a habit starts with understanding what a true habit is. According to Dictionary.com…
hab·it
noun
How do you get to the point of making something a habit?
Simple Answer– Do. That’s right. Do. If you want to be a great salesperson, then do what great salespeople do. If your habit of follow up bites…then, do follow-up calls. You don’t need to get yourself all freaked out or worked up about this. You don’t need to read The Secret…you just need to do the work. Do today, do tomorrow and do the day after that. Do until it becomes automatic. When you do something over and over it becomes second nature. If you’re having a hard time DOING, then one of a couple things need to take place:
1. Revisit the reason why you need to make this happen. Remind yourself of the great things that wait for you when you accomplish the goals you set. Your ‘why’ should be stronger than all the reasons why you’re not developing the ‘habit.’
2. Get someone to hold you accountable. Get a coach. Have a friend hold your feet to the fire. Something…anything…to keep you accountable to what you know needs to happen. Accountability is a strong motivator. I’ve had clients make follow-up calls a couple hours before our sessions because they knew I’d check on their progress…and , yes…they sold more work.
No excuses + No whining + DO = Know what it’s like to sell a lot more than what you sell now
The best habits to increase your sales?
1. Plant seeds. Prospect. Hunt.
2. Follow-up. Keep after it. Don’t let it get ‘cold.’
3. Be helpful. Genuine people sell more. Make it all about your client and they will trust you with their ‘problems.’
Sure, there are more habits, but if you kick butt in these three you will explode your sales.
