Ideas that DRASTICALLY boosted your sales

So, we all have them, certain single ideas, and improvements that we worked on and snapped into that suddenly boosted our sales almost magically, post them here!

Mine are:

1: Realization that everybody LIKES AND WANTS what I sell, when I walked into a sale sincerely believing that, I had insanely high confidence and no shame and showing them why and how they can own it and how worth-it it would be.

2: Keep a day timer, I was making some sales here and there but I ALWAYS forgot about old potential prospects.. I always had the idea of close them on the spot and I would never make call backs... the moment got and used a daytimer and a separate book to describe all the relevant info on a prospect, I increased my sales by 100% overnight... essentially doubling.

I never realized how many sales ARE interested when you call them back, I thought it would be more worth it searching for new prospects but I was wrong.
Besides, it makes you look professional when you open a full book of appointments and tell them you don't have room for them until Wednesday :)

3: Think about solutions for prospects, do about 30 minutes of homework on a good solution for a prospect's situation.. for example
a prospect was paying $25 a month for his alarm system that depended on his phone line that also costed him $25 a month, I offered him an alarm system that costed 35 dollars but did not use a phone line, he switched to a $7 dollar a month phone line that I found for him and he bought my system which was more expensive than his old one -DrPattyCakes

What do you sell chief?

Edit: sorry man got excited and didn't read the post in its entirety. -sales_ace

Residential and commercial security solutions -DrPattyCakes

Here are a few:

1. The magical effect of engagement.

When prospects are engaged, you enter a whole new realm of communication. Engaged prospects are more likely to listen, to respond, to interact, to think, to process, to synthesize, to react, to share, to spend time, to have fun, to make progress, etc.

2. When hearing a prospect's objection, sit back and relax first.

I first became aware of salespeople's propensity to react to objections by sitting forward (assuming you and your prospect are seated), or standing closer to the prospect (if the prospect and salesperson are standing). I started teaching my sales team at the time to first take a breath (thereby giving a brief pause in the action - something else salespeople aren't likely to do when handling objections), and then make a conscious effort to sit back in their chair rather than forward. The effect can be stunning. Objection handling can be one of the most stressful periods during the sales interaction for prospects, and we tend to make it worse by sitting forward in an effort to have them listen to us or to emphasize that what we're going to say next is important, but it has the opposite effect. Sitting back takes some of the pressure away and actually helps the prospect hang in there with you while the two of you discuss the objection.

3. The true realization that customers lie. We all know this, but salespeople make the mistake all the time of taking the prospects' words at 100% face value, then they wonder what happened when the prospect didn't buy. -Skip Anderson

I think that is good advice. Sitting forward can prompt the prospect to assume a defensive or even adversarial posture. Another effective mannerism for the salesperson in such cases is to nod affirmatively that you are hearing what the prospect is saying. You face however should be neutral (expressionless).

I don't like the word "lie" being used to make that point. Very few people consistently talk in a way that their words can be taken at "face value". In sales, it's our job to decipher what a prospect's intentions are, not to judge them as liars. -Gary A Boye

How about "Unnecessary Prevarication?" ;-) -DaveB

No--that doesn't cut it either.

If you truly place a value on the impact of conditions of MUTUAL trust and respect in sales between prospect and seller, then looking upon that prospect as a liar would not be consistent with that value. If you believe that the prospect is predisposed to lie (or prevaricate) to you, then you must realize that the person doesn't respect you--or he/she would not lie to you.

Living in a world of lies, real or imagined, is outside of the realm of trust and respect--and not a good place to be if you are in sales. -Gary A Boye

I was just trying to be humorous, Gary. :-)

Though I have know people who engaged in 'Unnecessary Prevarication' that was almost pathological in nature, and it had nothing to do with respect.

"Living in a world of lies, real or imagined, is outside of the realm of trust and respect--and not a good place to be if you are in sales."

True. Oh so very true. It's not a good place to be even if you are not in sales. -DaveB

How long have you been here? By this time you should know that I have NO sense of humor!! msnwnk; -Gary A Boye

Ah, I sense the gauntlet being thrown down! ;-) -DaveB

A self revelation of what I considered thought provoking ideas that drastically influence my ability to be successful with sales are:

• It is not an opportunity for me to meet with a client but is an opportunity for the client .Once I stopped looking at the client as an opportunity to me I started to make the client more important and solve their issues, concerns.
• It is never personal it is business
• My minds attitude that there is no one better suited to take care of my client than me
• Start learning and implementing what I learn
• Share what I learn to help others achieve faster than I
• I must have an ego and that ego I must always feed with more information
• Understand the clients different personality that opens the door to communication
• Have no fear asking questions
• Stop being a perfectionist. I am still working on this as I expect others to perform at a high level and want to deliver at a high level. This has proven to be tougher than I expected but is coming along
• Expect the unexpected and be prepared
• Stop, listen and hear the actual meaning and when I do not know for certain ask questions to verify. I do this with clients yet have great difficulty in forums.
• For every action I do I must be willing to do something for it to move forward.
• When dealing with clients I do not care who is right or wrong however if we look at it through this light we find this to happen
• No is not a no it is an unwillingness to go with me at this time

These are a few of my favorite things. -rich34232

People buy me before they buy my product.
If the prospect does not like/trust me then the prospect will not buy from me.

Positive Regards -salesdog

Here's an idea that boosted my sales success.

I realized that each sales interaction was independent of the last sales interaction and I really had a fresh start. It doesn't matter if I did well or I did poorly with my last conversation, if I release from the last interaction, I'm more present to quickly find the opportunity in my current interaction. -ToddR

Doing things right is a waste of time if you don't first choose the right things to do. -Clive Miller

There is some merit to what you say about finding the intent of why someone says something, instead of calling them liars.

To be successful you must try and understand why a prospect says something and then use that as an opportunity.

However; a lie is a lie and reality is more than just a sales priniciple of almost always looking at things with a positive light.

Many times by understanding the reality of the situation we can better turn the "lie" into an opportunity.

"Lies" are often used as a defense mechanism against being sold. I'm guilty of it myself.

When a sales person spots a person lying, that is often an indicator of how a person can or can't be sold.

We don't live in a sales world were everything is cookies and cream,we live in the real world and deal with all types of people.

By identifying the truth we can more easily find a solution.

Just because I call it a lie does not spoil my attitude and it doesn't make me resent the person, I just understand it as a natural reaction. Why do the prospects lie? How can you benefit from spotting a lie?

Sometimes using the "sales mind" can hurt your sales. You make it sound like a dogma or a religion instead of what sales really is. -cs80918

Can you give a specific example from this thread of a "sales mind" that sounds to you like "a dogma" or a religion? -Gary A Boye

Some people in the sales world almost always look at things with rose colored glasses, instead of looking at the reality of the situation and overcoming it with logic plus sales priniciples.

Example: In some sales circles, when a prospect says "No" sales people will say "That just means they don't (know) enough information and you need to give them more information."

Well that is no 100% accurate, but it is motivating for many sales people. A more accurate statement would be that sometimes no does mean no and sometimes it means something else.

I think motivation techniques sometimes invade the world of truth and reality. If you have real motivation you are an overcomer in most if not all areas of your life, just not sales.

Another non-truth statement that is used to motivate sales people is " Don't take it personal, the prospect isn't saying no to you they are saying no to the product/service."

That is true many times, but sometimes people just don't like you for whatever reason. That doesn't bother me at all, because I don't like every person on the earth either. Its a good thing that we part ways, so I can find a better prospect.

That being said as a sales person routed in reality you need to make sure that your appearance, body odors, clothing, facial expressions, presentation materials, tone of your voice, eye contact, body language and everything is firing on all cyclinders.

Gary I'm not 100% sure that what you said falls into this category, but it might.

My job is to take the truth. spray some cologne on it, shine some sunshine on it, and ask what kind of sugar or spice they'd like.

Constantly thinking of ways to make the same thing sound more appealing.

All the while address real concerns, real problems and real solutions, in hopes of offering logical and emotional reasons to ignite a desire/need/want/like. -cs80918

I like that post. -Gary A Boye

LISTENING rather than talking. -TonyB

I was reading an article in New Scientist this morning. It's title was drawn from a popular song, "Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies". I don't remember the name of the song.

The author was essentially making the point that we all perceive the world in our own unique way. The science is that we recreate reality inside our minds based on input from our senses, our body and brain chemistry, our genetics, and our experiences.

Truth is, truth is what you think it is. This is true until someone or something convinces you of a new truth.

There are no facts, only perceptions!

I await interesting responses. -Clive Miller

Is that a fact? -Gary A Boye

;bgHa Ha, Gary. I thought you claimed to have no sense of humour!

It is a perception of course unless you are me, in which case, it is a fact! Truth is, truth is what I think it is. At least until I am persuaded differently. -Clive Miller

Semantics I think. I look upon truth as absolute but very elusive. People live their lives by perceptions of course. Symbols and the meanings each person attaches, such as words, are the foundation of those perceptions. If there currently are five billion people in the world, there are five billion worlds.

The word "truth" is merely a symbol. You and I don't attach that symbol to the same meaning or construct. -Gary A Boye

Hello Clive. The point that you referenced is a key understanding. We could use more threads with topics along these lines. ;) -Jeff Blackwell

Oui, d'accord Gary. I think agreeing sounds better in French. -Clive Miller

I've always been tempted by wide open horizons and the open sea Jeff. I'll try and think of a provocative question to start a thread. -Clive Miller