The new financial year is starting and most of the companies would have already given their sales target or in the process of giving the sales target sheet to the team.
Meeting sales target is becoming more and more challenging and even experienced salespeople are finding it difficult at times to meet sales target let alone exceed. In the article 3 tips to improve sales forecasting, we covered how to avoid setting wrong sales target or forecasting. In this article, we shall discuss, 5 rules every sales professional must remember to achieve success in meeting sales target.
Research, data, new insights, blogs, articles, training, webinars, motivating sessions and so on promises the sales team with new ideas, process, tools that will guarantee success. The question is what the sales executives and teams should be doing to achieve their numbers.
Is there a secret formula for success? Yes. Let us look at it
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. Benjamin Franklin
Improving knowledge
Sales professionals are required to continuously upgrade their knowledge. As part of this, Industry knowledge, product knowledge, competitor knowledge, policy knowledge, customer knowledge, market knowledge all these are important.
Now, we can acquire knowledge by reading books, google, interacting with others. However, the beauty of our mind is to forget. We think that forgetting is bad. In fact, the God’s greatest gift to the human being is the ability to forget.
If we read a book, we may remember about 5 % after a month. So, the knowledge needs to be updated. It is important to forget what is not relevant and acquire what is relevant. Make it a practice to read at least one good book on any of the subject of your choice and learn to apply.
Every skill you acquire, it doubles your odds of success. Scotts Adams
Practice skills
In the same way, the skill once you acquire difficult to forget. An example is, even after 10 years of learning you would not forget how to ride a bicycle without practice.
Selling is a wonderful skill, once you learn you need to polish the same to keep intact. Like Preparing for a meeting, opening statement, asking questions, listening, presenting, objection handling, price handling, closing all are skills.
In fact, one of the studies says, if you improve one skill you will improve 10% of your sales. Decide 2 to 3 skills that you want to develop this year and practice every day till you master.
Excellence is a continuous process and not an accident. Abdul Kalam
Following a process
Many people say that with the change in market dynamics, it is not all that important to follow the old process, you can skip the process. It is important to define the sales process as per the changes, once you decide on the strong process and follow it religiously, it actually helps.
It would be good to revisit your sales process and see if you are missing some of the processes and realign yourself. This is critical to your success.
Plans are nothing; planning is everything. Dwight Eisenhower
Right Set of Efforts and Activities
Excellent product knowledge, great selling skills, a well-designed process, helps only when all these are translated into efforts and planned activities.
Ask yourself, are your efforts and activities are in the right direction and result oriented? Constantly monitor and take corrective actions
80 percent of success is due to psychology — mindset, emotions and beliefs — and only 20 percent is due to mechanics. Anthony Robbins
The Right Mindset
Finally, knowledge can be improved by reading books and taking training, skills can be improved by practice, the process can be followed with discipline, effort and activities can be planned, however, the key to success for the salesperson is developing a right mindset.
It must become clear that results we produce in our life are resultant of our mindset. Right mindset means overcoming one’s own limitations and believing in one’s abilities to deliver results. How do you do this? First is to become aware, decide on what to improve, set a goal, make some small changes and seek help from right people.
That is it. Follow the above 5 rules and start seeing results. Wish you successful new FY 2019.
