Tool Box
Issue No. 15 - February/March 2004
Its the Old Tricks that Work
Simple Tips for Sales Managers
by Craig Stubing
The Sales Rep said to the Boss: “Hey Boss, that sales idea you gave me last week worked a treat, can you give me another one?”
The Boss thought for a second and replied, “No, just keep on using the one I gave you.”
This anecdote illustrates just one of the traps salespeople can fall in to from time to time – in their eagerness to get to the next sale they make the mistake of seeking the new and exciting and not continuing to use well—known practices that work. They are lured away from the tried and true and, through carelessness, risk establishing poor practices rather than good ones.
Here are some other examples of poor practices that can become established if salespeople become careless.
Failing to keep activity records
Activity records are the match stats of the sales game. They must be maintained fastidiously; this means, as a minimum, counting the number of sales calls made (or received), the number of sales discussions held, the number of sales made, their value and their contribution to profit. This information needs to be recorded on a spreadsheet.
Only by doing this will you be able to easily and accurately calculate the key ratios within your sales process. This information is priceless when it comes to trouble—shooting in lean times or when planning for the future. You must have the means of calculating how much work needs to be done to achieve the goals you set for yourself and your business (or to get yourself out of trouble).
Failing to plan the next action after every sales call.
Too many sales opportunities slip through the cracks because of the lack of timely and appropriate follow—up. After each sales call, two questions need to be asked in respect of the customer just spoken to.
The first question is: “What is the next step to be taken with that customer?”
The second question is: “When is the best time for that step to be taken?”
The answers to ...
