According to Google, one definition of a reaction is a mode of thinking or behaving that is deliberately different from previous modes of thought and behavior. To become the Sales “Magnate” that you want to be this year, great results will stem from deliberately taking actions around thoughts and behaviors.
Dissect Your 2014 Results
- When were your best months?
- What factors influenced those months? Was it increased activity, consistency in your approach, or improving your sales fluencies? What would you do differently, and why?
- Take the time to analyze what worked for you, what did not, and reflect on how you can carry over the positives and create momentum.
Set Goals, Write Them Down, And Share Them
According to a Dominican University Goal Study, those that write down and share their goals experience the positive effects of accountability and accomplish significantly more those that do not write down their goals.
(Source: Summary of Recent Goals Research (PDF here: Gail Matthews Written Goal Study Dominican University), by Gail Matthews, Ph.D., Dominican University)
Evaluate Existing Pipelines
- Quickly address those that wanted to “wait until the new year”
- Seasonality exists in all business verticals to a certain extent. Evaluate when will be the best times to continue a conversation or steadfastly push for the close.
- Not all 2015 budgets have been locked down depending on the prospect’s fiscal year. Acquiring new customers often hinges on set purchase timeframes for new customer acquisition and cross sell/upsell opportunities.
- Reconnect with your nurtured prospects (Happy New Year!)
- Review Q4 and 2014 in total.
- Cover the type of year it has been with your prospects.
- Tie together the evaluation and consideration of your product/service into what their 2015 will look like at the end of this year. If you can connect the lack of advantage your prospect had without your product in 2014, they can envision the advantages in their favor throughout all of 2015. This could be bottom line immediate financial impact, increased efficiency or pure ROI.
- Lastly, drop those prospects in your pipeline that are not progressing to a sale. Do not let dead weight drag you down. Leave a drop message (“This is my last attempt to connect with you …”) and move forward.
Fervently Build New Pipeline With Focused And Purposeful Activity
This sounds obvious, but it’s critical to your entire year. Your pipeline may have suffered through the holidays. Know your personal bests in terms of activity, strive to reach beyond those and then set out to become more efficient within the sale. Knowing your numbers is a key aspect to a productive and successful sales career. Any sales person can tell you sales is a numbers game; those that understand their opportunities for improvement within those numbers are the ones who progress and earn the most.
By looking back and reflecting, looking forward and then applying what has been learned to your pipelines you will deliberately create positive sales reactions in 2015.
[Photo Credit: Kiva.Dang]
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: 4 Steps To Improve Your Sales Reactions In 2015
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