Month: September 2023

Hitting your sales target isn’t easy. In fact many reports show anywhere between 50-70% of salespeople are NOT hitting their sales targets at the moment.

Well I want to try and change that and help YOU hit MORE  of your sales goals.

Today we have been digging deep to find the top 10 sales tips out there that will help you and your sales target this month, this quarter and this year.

From the Home office in Gold, Texas, Here are

The Top 10 Tips to Always Hit Your Targets

10. Start Asking For MORE (or just ANY) Referrals

Some of the best, and highest converting, opportunities are those that come from referrals. There are companies that report referrals converting up to 70% of the time with 49% of companies saying that referrals have been their most effective tactic recently. With all that being said, SO MANY salespeople are either not asking for ANY or not asking for enough. One of the main reasons salespeople don’t ask for them is fear. They’ve only just asked for the close which was scary enough, now you want them to ask for MORE?! This is easily solved by highlighting one big truth, people LIKE giving referrals, it makes them feel good. So when you ask your customers for a referral, they feel good (not bad), giving you some.

9. Know When To Walk AWAY From An Opportunity

Saying NO is one of the most powerful things you can do to sell more (as hard as that may be to believe). So many salespeople are weighed down by prospects and pipeline that will simply never convert, and by walking away from bad or weak opportunities, you’re then able to put more time and effort into ones that WILL close. Do a full pipeline audit each and every month to look at which opportunities are likely to convert, or are not likely to convert. Prioritize your time on those you genuinely feel with close, allowing you to give them the time and effort needed to close them.

8. Start Generating Your OWN (Good) Leads

Everyone working in any and every sales position should be hungry and out there generating their own leads. Not waiting on them to magically appear. If you want to sell more then you’re going to need more leads and opportunities to do so. The best salespeople don’t wait around for others, they’re out there always looking for good opportunities.

Whether it’s picking up the phone and making more calls, sending more emails, leveraging LinkedIn, sending video messages, the list goes on.

I’d recommend reading/listening to “Fanatical Prospecting” by Jeb Blount, “High Profit Prospecting” by Mark Hunter and “The Ultimate LinkedIn Sales Guide” by Daniel Disney for the best lead-generating and prospecting advice.

7. Try Selling OUTSIDE Of Office Working Hours (9-5)

Look, here is the reality, most of your prospects and target decision makers are the busiest during office working hours (Monday – Friday 9-5), yet this is the time most salespeople are hired and told to work. This is why you’ll struggle to reach most of them. What this does do however is create an opportunity, and top performing salespeople all over the world also prospect and follow up OUTSIDE of office hours. It might be making calls, sending emails or messages between 07:00 – 09:00 or sending them between 5:00 – 9:00 PM Many decision makers will still be at work during those times, but a lot less likely to be in meetings or wrapped up in work tasks and so can often be more responsive, likely to answer calls and more likely to reply to you.

6. Try Overcoming A Few More OBJECTIONS

It can sometimes take just overcoming ONE more objection to win a sale, yet so many salespeople buckle or fall at objections. You want to become an objection master, to never fear them but to be fully prepared for them. You want to be able to overcome any and all objections that come your way. A top tip is to create a list of AS MANY of your common objections as possible and then underneath each one, have potential ways to overcome them. Print this list and have it accessible every time you’re speaking to your prospects and customers. Just remember, each objection you overcome gets you closer to the sale, and could be the one objection they have that will then make them feel ready to buy.

5. Ask What Is Holding Deals Back From CLOSING

Most of you reading this will have deals in your pipeline that aren’t closing, some of which you’ll be struggling to even get a response back from them. One of the most effective ways to get responses is to just ask them outright what is holding them back. Ask them what is holding them back from moving forward, what concerns or questions do they have. A lot of prospects aren’t going to just come to you with their problems or challenges, YOU need to ask them. Try it on a phone call, through an email or through a LinkedIn message or just plain show up and ask. That way you can close the deal or move to the next opportunity.

4. Use Your CRM To Its Full Potential To Sell More

I know, I know, using your CRM is NOT a fun (this might be because you don’t actually have a good CRM at the moment). BUT, when you use your CRM properly it can help you sell more effectively and sell more full stop.

Some CRM’s boast increasing new accounts by double digits, some seeing revenue soar by 40%+. Use your CRM (or start using a better one) properly, start storing better information, use it to manage your pipeline better, but more importantly use it to serve your customers better.

3. Stop Selling And Start Helping Your CUSTOMERS Win

If you want to sell more, you have to stop selling and start helping. Don’t focus on selling a product, focus on solving a problem. Whether you’re writing a sales email or a sales message, start making the content about how THEY will benefit, how THEY will win. People don’t care about what you’re selling, unless you can show them how they will benefit from buying it.

2. Know Who Your QUICK Wins Are

Every salesperson has them, a type of customer that is easier to create and close compared to others. It could be a specific industry, or job title, but look for the patterns and find the customers that are easier and quicker to win.

And the #1 Top 10 Tip to Always Hit Your Target is…

1. Remember Your ABC And Your ABP…

A lot of you will know what ABC means in sales, Always Be Closing, but there is an equally important 2nd version, ABP, The 7th tenet of the MMA’s Always Be PROSPECTING. Every day, every single minute that you are working, you need to be focused on prospecting new opportunities and closing existing ones. Every activity, every conversation, every task, your focus is on those 2 core outcomes. Closing sales and creating new ones. The best salespeople are constantly feeding their pipeline and constantly closing as well.

I’m sure these tips will help you close more deals and reach your goal to close the year stong.

Have a great weekend,

David

I read a story many years ago about a young Olympic gymnast. As a child growing up, she had one goal. She started in gymnastics at a very early age and her dream was to compete in the Olympics and win a gold medal.

Everybody, including her coach, told her that this is a big dream and it would be incredibly difficult to achieve. She didn’t listen to any of the naysayers. She worked hard every day for years constantly knowing that it was going to take years of practice and training to make that dream come true.

As she moved into her teenage years, everyone saw that she was a special young lady with loads of talent and a big dream. Her dedication and commitment was paying off. She made the Olympic team and became one of the favorites in the world to win the gold medal.

Finally, that special day had come. She competed and wowed all the judges and she was awarded the number one gymnast in the entire world. She won the gold medal! Her dream had come true.

As she stood upon the podium with the national anthem playing and the gold medal around her neck, she had tears streaming down her face reflecting on how all her hard work had paid off.

It was the proudest moment of her entire life.

When she arrived back home, all the festivities and congratulations came pouring in. They were parades, TV endorsements, and national TV show interviews. What an incredible time to be able to celebrate her dream coming true.

As time went on and all the celebrations began to stop, her emotions started changing. She actually found herself becoming sad. As months went on, she started becoming very depressed. She was at the point where she needed to see a counselor.

She met with the counselor and she told the whole wonderful story about how she achieved her dream and now she couldn’t understand why she was so depressed. The counselor listened to her story and congratulated her on this wonderful accomplishment. He shared with her that although this was an incredible accomplishment, life is constantly about setting new goals and new dreams. Some will be bigger than others. The reason why she was depressed is because she no longer had a dream or a purpose. He encouraged her to start writing out new goals and new dreams and to do that for the rest of her life. This made absolute sense and she went on to become successful in many other areas in her life. She learned to have joy in her journey. Most importantly, she learned that life is all about constantly setting new goals.

As I reflected on the story many years ago, I realized even though we may not win a gold medal, we all need to have goals and dreams for our entire lifetime. Whenever you reach a goal, let me encourage you to celebrate. Most importantly after that, start setting another goal.

If you woke up this morning and you are breathing, you still have life in you. You still have things to accomplish. You have dreams inside of you and it’s time to make them come true.

No matter what level you reach in life, keep setting new goals. I have studied and observed many people throughout my life. Here’s what I have found…. People that are not growing have the least amount of joy. Growth and progress equals happiness. If you want to have joy in life, keep aspiring for new dreams.

All of us have achieved some wonderful goals in life. Celebrate them and keep setting more goals. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you are too old to achieve great things. Write out your new dreams and goals and put together a plan on what it’s going to take to achieve those goals. Surround yourself with winners who are going to encourage you and help you accomplish your goals. Once you accomplish each goal, celebrate and move onto the next one. Today is the beginning of the rest of your amazing life! Go out and make it happen!

Happy Selling,

David

I recently saw a meme which I found pretty humorous. It showed a picture of a guy with a frustrated face and on the front of it it said “ I’ve been working in sales for one full month and I can’t believe I’m not a millionaire yet.”

Although that draws a chuckle, unfortunately it does describe the lack of patience and commitment that many people have. The truth is, it takes many years of hard work and commitment to become an overnight success.

Many people do not achieve success because they fail to understand that success takes time. A lot of people will start something and then complain about how they are not successful three or six months later.
I have seen some people work for three months and they make the mistake of comparing themselves with someone that has worked hard for 10 years. Although you can achieve some success in three months, you cannot achieve big meaningful results in that time.

Real success takes time. Time gives you a chance to improve on your knowledge of your products. Time also allows you to become better at what you do.
When you commit to becoming successful, it’s going to take energy, sacrifice and a passionate desire to succeed. There will be mistakes and failure along the way. You must understand that mistakes and failure are the bridges you cross on your way to success.

When you set a big goal, it’s also important that in order to achieve that big goal, you must have small goals along the way. A while back, I remember speaking to someone and they told me about a big goal that they would like to accomplish. I explained to him that it would probably take a good 10 years of hard work and commitment to get there. He replied, “ Wow! In 10 years I will be 45 years old.” Of course I came back with this reply-“ if you don’t commit to work hard for the next 10 years on that goal, how old will you be then?” The message was received.

The time is going to go by anyway. My philosophy is that you might as well work hard towards your dreams and make it happen. Unfortunately, we live in an immediate gratification society. We want it and we want it right now. Most attempt the path of least resistance when it comes to achieving success. Many are looking for the get rich quick scheme. They may have a spark in the beginning but

they ultimately fail because they do not stick with it long enough. They did not see their dream through to the end.
There are no shortcuts to success. There are no such things as get rich quick schemes. You will not find a “drive thru” success program. You must take advantage of your opportunity and work hard at it consistently. The discipline and the consistency is what is going to make the difference.
So if you’re not where you want to be yet, don’t fret. Write out exactly what you would like to achieve and how achieving your dream will impact your life. Become passionate about what you are doing. The passion will keep you energized for the long-haul.

Don’t just talk about success. Write out a success roadmap. Have a business plan and make sure it is very specific. Once you have done this, take action.

Having success is all about your daily habits. You have to find a way to incorporate your success plan into your daily life so it actually becomes a routine.
Most of all, no matter what happens, stick to it. Never ever give up! Don’t let anything or anybody discourage you. If you keep focusing on the end goal, eventually you will get there. And when you do, it will be so worth it. You will be thankful that you took the time and made the commitment to work at your dreams.

This is your time! Make that daily commitment and don’t look back. Your future self will thank you.

Happy Selling,

David

The other day while driving to take care of a client about 90 minutes away I turned on a Ryan Stewman podcast. He was talking about leveling up and not letting the force of averages overtake you. He spoke about a sales seminar he attended several years ago. He said each morning at 7 AM, he along with several of our up-and-coming stars would speak to the team and share some inspiration and sales tips. On the last day, Les Brown was the speaker and spoke about his journey and about making a commitment and the importance of doing whatever it takes to become successful.

It made me think about something I spoke about a while back. We all have a choice. We can choose to be on the WIT (whatever it takes) program or we can choose to be on the

NITWIT (not into whatever it takes) program.
If you’re not willing to do whatever it takes to become successful with integrity, you will live a life of mediocrity!If you truly want to be successful, you have to be willing to do whatever it takes. Success takes a 100% commitment.

Many people talk about being in the top 10%. If that is your goal, you have to be willing to do what 90% of people are not willing to do.
If you want to go to an even higher level and be part of the 1% club, you have to do what 99% of people do not want to do.

When we talk about whatever it takes, we certainly want to make sure that we are doing everything with integrity. It’s all about doing whatever it takes for you to grow and to become better.

This means, you have to start your day early.

You have to put in the time that’s necessary for you to achieve your goals.

It’s about making a commitment to continuously learn.

It’s about making sure that you are consistent, persistent and no matter what comes your way, you’re never going to give up.

It’s about surrounding yourself with winners and finding a mentor that’s going to help you get to where you want to be.

If you’re going to be on the W.I.T. program, it’s going to require a lot of discipline. This is a commitment to be at the top of your game in all phases of your life. You have to be able to do what the majority of other people are not willing to do.

This may mean removing all negative influences from your life, TV, social media and anything that is distracting you from achieving your dreams. It may mean putting in 12 hour days or 14 hour days over a period of time.

This is all about making improvements in your life. The only way to do that is to do what most others won’t do.

You have to get rid of all the negative out of your life. You must understand that you will have obstacles and you will have days when you feel like giving up. This is where you start grinding and you make that commitment that no matter what gets in your way, nothing is going to stop you. You must understand that whatever obstacles come your way, they are only testing you to see how badly you want your dream.

Do not procrastinate. Make the decision to take action right now. Once you make that commitment to do whatever it takes to achieve your dreams, you will become unstoppable.

Nothing will get in your way because you have made that commitment.

I had an sales professional tell me yesterday he was going to close 15 deals this month. It can be done if they do Whatever It Takes to get them.

This week, visualize yourself having your goals achieved. You can do this! You are not designed to be on the NITWIT program.

You’re way better than that. Make the decision that you are going to do whatever it takes to become successful.

Repeat this phrase each day. “I am on The W.I.T. program!!

Happy Selling,

David

You have a dream and you know what it takes to accomplish that goal.

No one said it was going to be easy. I guarantee that there will be many obstacles along the way. Along with those obstacles, there will be many people who will try to bring you down.

Some of them mean well but unfortunately, they will not support your vision.

The amazing thing is the ones that doubt you the most are the ones that are closest to you. They can be your best friends, your parents, even your spouse. Usually their advice is just simply not do whatever it is you’re planning. They will set up all the excuses for you. They will tell you the timing is bad, the location is wrong, the economy is bad and nobody will buy what you’re selling.

The first step is to understand that achieving great success will be difficult but most important it will be worth it. The most important thing is you must believe in yourself and your abilities. If you have any self doubt, the naysayers will jump right in on that. No matter how difficult it is, you have to learn to tune them out or keep them out. Most of them think they have your best interest in mind but the reality is their negativity will only do you harm.

When the naysayers start speaking negatively, the first thing you must ask yourself “Are these people in life were you want to be?” 99% of the time the answer is no. I guarantee you they have not done anything even close to what you want to accomplish.
When someone criticizes you or tries to rain on your parade, it’s never about you. It’s always about them. You’re out of their comfort zone and they don’t like it.If you listen to the naysayers, you will never achieve your dreams.

You have a dream and you must clearly define the dream. It’s important to understand why you are doing it. Your dream matters.

So going forward, understand it’s important to surround yourself with positive people. You will become who you surround yourself with. If you surround yourself with people who are going after their dreams, overcoming their fears and developing their skills, you will do the same.
Success involves taking risks. It cannot be avoided. Learn to embrace and enjoy taking risks. Be willing to fail. Get over the fear of failure. Go out and make it happen and fail quickly so you can correct your mistakes and make progress.
Make a commitment to take daily action towards achieving your goals. There is power in Success Habits.

Your dream is alive! Don’t let anybody steal your dream. Surround yourself with people that are going to encourage you and lift you up. Success is right around the corner waiting for you. Never allow anyone to talk you out of it.

Happy Selling,

David

What is a sales Super star you ask? Well, it’s someone who sells A LOT!

The top 0.1%, The elite, The best of the best. They are the sales professionals who dominate the leaderboard, the ones who never struggle to hit targets and the ones who take home the very BIG commission check at the end of the month.

If you work in sales you’ll know it’s not that easy at all, so what do they do differently? Want to know the secret to their sales success?

I’ve worked with and know some of the most amazing sales super stars and today I will be sharing the 10 secrets to their sales success.

(No.1 is one of the most important ones)

From the Home office in Star, Mississippi, Here are the

Top 10 Tips To Become A Sales SUPER STAR

10. Set Your OWN Targets – Most W2 salespeople work towards whatever sales target they get set by management. Sales super stars often set their OWN sales targets based not on what the company wants them to earn but what THEY want to earn. (note this is obviously usually higher than their original targets). But they align their goal to their direct motivations and what they want to achieve.  Pro Tip: Work out what YOU want or need to earn each quarter and year and why you want to earn it, and set that as your target.

9. Start Earlier – Almost every sales super star I’ve met with has been one of the first (if not THE first) in the office every day. Why? It allows them to get focused and ready, it allows them to reach prospects & customers earlier when they’re more likely to answer and it allows them to take control of their day, instead of coming in late and fighting a losing battle. Pro Tip – If you’re not an early bird, then PLAN your day ahead. So each afternoon/evening, start setting everything up for the following day so you can hit the ground running.

8. Personalize The Sale – Every single sales super star knows to makes every sale about the customer, not them. It’s not about their product or the salesperson but all about the prospects, their problems and how this will help them. They’ll use names, stories and information that they uncover in research and in the conversation to make everything about them and unique to them.

Pro Tip – Research your prospects to take your personalization to the next level. Utilize things like Facebook, LinkedIn, Google searches, YouTube, podcasts, webinars, dig as deep as you can to make it more about them.

7. Avoid Distractions –Work hard to follow your schedule. Working for yourself can be just as distracting. Now, there is always time for banter and fun, but sales super stars know when to put their head down and work hard. They know when to say no. Their PRIORITY is their job, to sell, to hit their numbers, everything else comes second. Pro tip – Set CLEAR times for selling and sales activities and have a no-distraction rule. Then, have clear break times where you can relax and do other things.

6. Qualify Your Prospects – Sales super stars don’t waste their time trying to sell to anyone, they work hard to find the RIGHT people to sell to. They qualify them to make sure they invest their time in opportunities likely to close.

Pro Tip – Qualify early, during prospecting and initial conversations, and qualify hard. Remember, a non-qualified prospect has a high chance of being a waste of your time and may increase your risk of not hitting your number.

5. LOVE Objections – Sales super stars are happy to deal with objections, they’re confident in their service and they’ve qualified the customer so they’re confident it’s the right solution for them, so the objection isn’t scary. Ok you don’t have to love them, but you need to be happy, prepared and confident in overcoming them. Pro Tip – Write a list of as many objections as you can think (and keep adding to it) and then write down ways to overcome them. Have this list available as and when you need it to help you overcome MORE objections and win more sales.

CLICK HERE (Top 10 Objections When it Comes to Merchant Processing)

4. Use All Tools Available – You’ve got to sell smart to be a sales super star and that means using all available tools. You’ve got to be focused on your mission to help your customer. They don’t just use these tools but they master them, they learn how to use them properly and then practice to find their perfect approach. So many salespeople are stuck using bad CRM’s, bad tools, or worse yet, NO CRM’s or tools. Would Tony Stark be a superhero without the Iron Man armor and technology? No. If you want the best CRM for sales then you need to use Iris, Pipedrive or Hubspot are really good CRM’s.

3. Don’t sell, SOLVE – Too many sales people waste their time selling when sales super stars are just solving problems for people with their solution. They’re not pushing the sale but reminding the customer about the problem and building the value in their solution. This might sound obvious, but so many sellers are just trying to sell products and are not focusing on the problems that they solve. Pro Tip – Don’t forget your prospects might not even realise they have a problem. Show them what OTHER companies are doing that might be more efficient or cost effective. Sometimes you have to educate them on what problems they might have.

2. Don’t Give Up – You need to be so passionate about helping people that you’re willing to work harder than anyone else. Don’t give up at the first hurdle, don’t take their rejections personally, just know that your job is to help show them how helpful your product will be for them. Where I see most sales people giving up, sales super stars actually keep working on the opportunity, they push further and often then win the sale. Pro Tip – Look through any/all of your customer testimonials, recommendations and customer feedback to remind yourself just how helpful you and your service is! That will always give you the boost you need to push through.

And the #1 Tip To Become A Sales SUPER STAR is…

1.They network HARD – It’s not just what you know but WHO you know. The elite sales pros are always networking, whether that’s online, at events, asking for referrals, with key industry professionals, their network is their net WORTH and they are always building it. Pro Tip – Never be afraid to ask for referrals, most people are more than happy to give them. In fact nearly 91% are happy to give referrals, yet just 11% of salespeople actually ask for them.

If you can tap into those 10 areas you have the potential to unlock HUGE sales success. What would YOU add to the list?

Have a great weekend,

David

Yesterday we looked at the 7 signs of curiosity and why it matters.  

Today’s topic is about “Curiosity” When you walk into the business, your reason for doing so should always be out of curiosity, not sales as we discussed yesterday. This probably sounds crazy to some of you, but I always start my opening pitch out of curiosity.  Here a few common ones I use.

“I was driving over to meet with my client Lee at his liquor store, and I realized I have never introduced myself in this business. “or” I am looking for_______ business; are you familiar with them?” (Response: Yes..etc.)

“Great! I am running over there to do a demo of our new smart terminal or doing an install at.  Do you already have one of those?” ( This is great to do if you have an extra terminal handy to show them) This type of “curiosity” for stopping by sets the prospect at ease.

Once I get past this initial “Curiosity or exploratory phase, I try to make the prospect feel great about his or her business.  This is very easy to do if you try. 

Here are some things I might say.
“I am always amazed by local businesses and the story behind them.  I can see you have a solid business established here; can I ask for some free advice?  How did you become an established business owner in the community?”

“I love the way you have the store set up.  How did you come up with this floor layout?”Restaurant: “I have heard some good things about your food.  What is your personal favorite dish here?”

“The atmosphere here really sets this place apart.  I bet you put a lot of work into designing the customer experience.”

Now that the owner is feeling good about me, the time is right to jokingly, apologetically transition into the pitch for what I do.  Here are a few ways that I set up the transition. “Do you mind if I give you the thirty second elevator pitch for my company?” or  “I am always looking to develop new relationships in the local community.  Can I give you my thirty second commercial about what I do?” “I do have one question before I leave my card with you.  Is this a single location business or do you have multiple locations?”   Now is the time to casually and confidently make your pitch.  Here are a few ideas.

The Pitch  – After I share what I do with them I say something like this, “I have found that there are really only two things that matter to business owners when it comes to credit card processing. First is reliability.  You need to know that your money is going to be in your bank account quickly and can’t afford to have your terminal go down in the middle of a busy day.

Second, as long as you have that reliable service, the decision really comes down to service and value.  I never tell business owners they should work with me based on savings alone.  While I know I can provide the reliability and service you need, I have no idea what kind of pricing you are getting.  I wouldn’t want to waste your time by talking about what I can do for you until I have established that it makes sense for you financially.  What I would like to do is simply get a little bit of information from you today.  Then I’d like to schedule a time to come back when I can spend ten minutes reviewing your current costs for processing and see if we can identify any areas for significant value based on the services I can provide.  Does that sound like a reasonable plan?”
Here’s my recommendation, stop trying to close your customer and start focusing on understanding your customer, then the close will come. View every sales conversation as an opportunity for learning. You have the opportunity to learn about your customer. You have the opportunity to learn about your competitors. You have the opportunity to learn about how to become a better salesperson. Always be open to learning. It’s the only way to grow.

“Always be curious” .is the new “ABC”s of sales?

Always be curious will lead you to Always Be Closing.

Happy Selling, 

David