Want to sell twice as much next quarter? I’m skeptical of quick-fix sales efforts, but the following list (based upon a conversation with Bill Stinnett, author of Selling Results!) makes perfect sense to me. Here are nine steps that you can take — in about four hours — that can easily double your sales:
- STEP #1: Reorganize your opportunity portfolio. Estimate the revenue of each opportunity as well as the date you expect the opportunity to come to closure. Look for deals that are likely to close quickly and for big money.
- STEP #2: Re-qualify each opportunity. Starting with the best from step #1, determine what you know and don’t know about each account. Consider the account’s current state, desired future state, and vision of the ideal solution.
- STEP #3: Size or resize each opportunity. Based upon the contacts that you’ve had up until this point, determine the account’s appetite for investment from the people who are responsible for earning a return on whatever capital they decide to invest.
- STEP #4: Frame each opportunity in time. Determine when they need to arrive at their desired future state and what will happen if they don’t arrive there by that date. Then estimate when this customer will buy based on that urgency.
- STEP #5: Revise your revenue projection. You have now looked at your “hot” opportunities from both your perspective (as a seller) and their perspective (as a buyer). With this new clarity, revise your sales forecast to reflect what you really believe can happen.
- STEP #6: Re-Evaluate what it will take to achieve your sales goals. Plan what you need to do in terms of monthly and weekly business development activity that will ensure you successfully close on the opportunities identified above.
- STEP #7: Redefine your relationship footprint. Review whom you currently know within each account. Decide whom else you need to meet as you help your contacts in the account work through their buying process.
- STEP #8: Develop a plan to move each opportunity forward. Create a project plan with dates for each event that must take place for the deal to close. Identify the people who need to be involved from your company and from your account.
- STEP #9: Plan your meetings and phone calls to maximize results. Use all of the above as a touchstone for your daily activities over the next four weeks. Ensure that every interaction with your customer moves the sales opportunity forward.
The above process will cause you to double your sales because it forces you to focus your time and energy on the right prospects at the right time.
