Selling is complex.
Markets change rapidly.
Competitors evolve.
And there is always someone willing to discount to shortcut the sales process.
So, this is for you of you’re a sales leader seeking inspiration.
Today, I want to share with you some of the quick wins I’ve used over the last 20 years to help immediately improve sales performance, and increase revenue and margins.
Leaving Money on the Table is not an option today, margins matter, sales cycle durations matter. So often winning the sales is based on:
- Who gets in front of the prospect first
- Who forms the best / most relevant connection fastest
See how these can work for you
How to Boost Sales Revenues and Profit
1. Sell to Your Sales Team Before You Sell to Your Buyer.
The company has a super product/service and it delivers a high level of value to buyers.
The difference between high converting sales teams and a struggling sales teams is the sales pitch!
It’s either a verbal vomit or a peer to peer exchange!
What are you sales reps doing?
If your reps leave your prospect feeling interrupted more than enlightened you may have a problem.
You need a sales pitch that delivers value, shared meaningful insight and helps your prospect think differently by being better informed and respectfully challenged.
How do you fix it? It’s simple.
Get you sales reps thinking like their target prospects!
So, you might be selling a CRM – every single decision maker in that buying committee will have a different list of hot buttons.
Sales Director will be looking a reporting function.
Marketing Director will be looking a ability to manipulate data and interfacing with other systems.
FD will be looking at payback versus the current system.
IT Director will be looking at ease of implementation.
CRM Manager will be looking at migrating legacy information, compliance and an adoption issues.
Phew!
That’s not to say that all of these issues won’t be on every job titles list – they most likely will be – you just need to look at what’s at the TOP of each job holders list.
Few sales reps get this, those using a generic sales pitch definitely don’t get it! Making their sales pitches low value, annoying and a waste of time.
2. Are the Marketing Team Onside?
You’ll never be able to fully realise your sales pipeline worth if they’re not.
Sales messages evolve with their telling.
Marketing messages tend to be quite static – think about it, the website, the brochure, the events pack, the corporate communication series.
Make sure marketing is tuning in and well as broadcasting – your prospects will know when they aren’t!
Sales people are the agents of change.
Sales people are customer facing 80% of the time.
Marketing and sales need to work together.
Markets change fast. Client needs change faster. Trends come and go.
Sales knows this, marketing shouldn’t be playing catch up.
3. What’s ‘Value’ Really Mean?
If your business uses ‘Value’ as a global term then you might want to think about this:
The value of a chocolate bar is wildly different depending on whether it’s being viewed by an extreme sports person, a bust mum or someone with unstable sugar tolerances.
The term ‘Value’ has no value (no pun intended) unless it’s relevant to that specific buyer.
‘Delivering high value’ means very little in real terms.
We all use it, and it’s covered to a degree in point 1 above – know your prospect…
Without the ability to articulate real value as defined by the prospect…you’ll simply be one of many me too type providers.
Operating where your profits and turnover is restricted by definition of what others are charging.
How to demonstrate value:
Case studies / proof / success stories / ROI outlines – relevant and matched to your prospect
ROI demonstrations – using the prospects data to mirror and test – best, worst, most likely model building
In this kind of things – the real value is in the quality and scope of your conversation with the prospect.
4. Innovation and Value Creation Comes From Everywhere
Get your sales reps into the habit of speaking to the prospect about what happens AFTER the order has been shipped – throwing light on special conditions /additional support during the selling stage can help your reps stand out
PLUS – it will change the language in the sales call – you reps will become way more assumptive – conveyed as confident and assured – it’s a win
Remember – value could come from terms extended, delivery schedules, support that’s delivered post sale, call down options, admin on the account…All value adding elements that may not be obvious but can be potent with the prospect if used correctly.
Sometimes , HOW YOU SELL can be your biggest competitive advantage.
5. Who’s in the Buying Room?
Great things happen when team of multi skilled professionals take on a challenge to solve a buyers problem.
That’s magic!
Have the sales team bring in other experts from across the business – expert to expert. So got the prospect’s IT Director on the call, or the FD, then get your internal counterpart in on the call too.
It shows the prospect they’re special, valuable, and it validates their perspective, peer to peer.
You see, typically what happens is the sales guy sells the solution to the prospect who then goes back to convince the business to deliver.
That’s fraught with pain, profit drain, mismatched expectation and trauma. It’s bad news!
Instead think about inviting the prospects buying committee into the selling/buying process ASAP – do this, and make it valuable, by bringing all your expertise to the table too. Match their seniority like for like. It will reduce friction immediately!
Get this right and it’s a double win for the business as the business is being continually informed…so innovation is as natural as breathing.
6. Be Different or Die
Don’t expect any buyer to take your claim of delivering high levels of value if your proposition is identical to that of your competitors…just don’t.
If you’re value proposition is not robust enough then either sort it out OR resign yourself to discounting to win business. That’s your choice. There is no other.
In fact, if this describes you now – it’s time to hike your prices AND work out how you can match your value to make your price and product /service seem like a no-brainer
7. Foster Problem Solving and Curiosity as Key Sales Skills?
Curiosity, creative problem solving and great questioning skills with the agility to flip ideas around – all hallmarks of a great sales person. So before you recruit again, or invest time in developing a reps skills – ask yourself – do they have these personal attributes?
8. Really Use Your CRM
If you really want to know how to boost sales revenues and profits then your CRM needs to have good quality, time sensitive and meaningful information that’s updated in a timely fashion, It’s a vital piece of sales growth kit.
A sales knowledge bank.
A sales engine,
It’s a wealth of information and forecasting gold when it’s used properly.
With a valid and workable sales process mapped to it.
And some key sales metrics attached to every part of your CRM
Using your CRM this way – means you can see straight away where your blocks and sales drain are, broken down by team and individual.
9. Use Your Sales Metrics to Make Decisions
Sales metrics that truly reflect the potential ready to be converted in the sales pipeline will save your life in lots of ways:
- Low risk decision making becomes easy when you have the data
- Sales reps with their own conversion data can become accountable for sourcing learning, fixing leaks, reflecting on how to get better
- Sales forecasts become a dream
- Sales improvement is a walk in the park because you have specific data and clarity around what it means
10. Make Every Event a Learning Opportunity
When you’re thinking about how to boost sales revenues and profits, then incremental improvements matter!
Let’s say you have a prospective buyer in the metal castings industry.
He has a specific problem. You bring your company experts together to solve that problem. It may take a half day, it may take some follow up over a few weeks, it may take up 5 man days in total.
That has a cost.
A cost that can’t be ignored when you’re thinking about how to increase sales revenues and profits.
So let’s assume that the problem gets solved and the buyer is happy. Problems solved but profit eroded by the cost of those 5 days.
How do you ever get that back?
- Well maybe that solution is appropriate to other metal casting firms?
- Can you use this to enter a new, or develop an existing market sector?
- Maybe that solution is also valuable to associate/similar industries?
- Would this solution open doors and conversations with some of your choice TOP 100 prospects?
- Is there value in creating a marketing case study, a white paper from this solution?
- Can you speak at trade or associating exhibitions about your problem solving skills and showcase this as an example?
- Will this delighted buyer be able to refer you around?
- Could you develop a branding angle based on this?
You see, 5 days may mean a lot…but it’s an investment to be realised, should you choose to do so.
Even if all you realise is that this is a sector/problem you should not even engage with!
How to Boost Sales Revenues and Profits
Join us on The Sales Improvement Workshop – where we cover all of this an so much more to help you get the best results from your sales efforts
The Sales Improvement Workshop is 2 days of Modern, Relevant and Practical Sales Training. Join us an discover how to sell so that your prospects want to buy from YOU
No matter what your current sales performance is, no matter your level of experience, time selling…if you’re in B2B sales and want to increase you sales results, and boost your sales revenues and profits then join us
You could be in a sales nose dive, struggling to break through a sales plateau, or looking to launch a new product…with the following, improving your sales results becomes much easier:
- Solid sales metrics
- High levels of self accountability in the selling team
- A differentiated sales pitch
- The right people in the right room at the right time
- A very strong value proposition
- A trusted adviser mindset
With these you’ll:
- Out sell your competitors
- Drive incremental sales growth
- Become more focused on what delivers results, than what fills the hrs between 9-5
- Close faster
- Build stronger prospect connections
- Increase margins
How to Boost Sales Revenues and Profits with Morton Kyle
Morton Kyle have been helping B2B organisations to increase sales revenues, profits, market share and customer numbers for over 20 years’
Here’s how we do it:
The Sales Improvement Workshop
90 Day Sales Sprint – Done With You / For You
When you’re looking to solve your revenue and profit sales challenges – contact us for a confidential discussion – Carol on 0779 002 1885 – to see how we can support your growth and profitability.
How to boost sales revenues and profits is a key part of what we do – using data driven, bespoke sales improvement interventions we have used in the last 30 years to help organisations to thrive.
With so much information available about how to improve sales, the best sales methods, the changing needs of buyers, what sales process to use… it’s often tough to know where to start if you want better sales results.
That’s why we create CLARITY from CONFUSION!
With our holistic approach to improving B2B sales performance, my clients can see an immediate uplift in sales outputs because we only focus on the elements of your sales function that are dragging your sales results down.
There is nothing hit and miss with our sales improvement interventions – whether that’s sales coaching, sales training or sales strategy.
What does that mean for you? Faster progress, less effort, fewer changes, less friction, smoother transition from the old to the new.
Don’t get bogged down in out the box sales solutions and ‘hit and run’ sales training – you’re closer than you think to getting the sales results you want, you don’t need to start from scratch.
So, what’s your sales challenge?
Let’s chat!