The 7 Critical Areas of Sales Success

If you are struggling with slower than expected (or desired) sales results you may need to strengthen one or more of The 7 Critical Areas of Sales Success, which are:

1. Creating the Self Discipline Habit
   This is huge!  More sales people fail because they don't have consistent self discipline.  If you know you have potential but you're not reaching it...you may be lacking the Self Discipline Habit.  Fortunately, self discipline is a skill that can be developed and I teach this based my 3 Rules to Harness the Self Discipline Habit.

2. Using an Effective (and Simple) Time Management System
   This is the #2 reason most sales people fail...poor time management.  Yes...part of poor time management comes from the lack of self discipline...but you can't put the entire blame there.  I have a simple Time Management System that requires nothing special...no new tools to buy, no software to learn...just a week at a glance calendar and a new strategy.  This will immediately help you take back control of time instead of time controlling your actions!

3. Prospecting to the Right Market Works!
   Prospecting should be approached based on two things; 1) ROI and 2) ROT
   Focus on targeting the market that will provide you the best Return on Investment and the Best Return on Time.  Hint:  General Geographic Farms aren't it.  Neither are mailings of Just Listed postcards to the "closest" 100 neighbors.  It is so critical to start with the right list...without it...you can have the best message and the best product or service...but when you are missing your target...you've missed the mark.

4. Guiding Advocates to Help You Build Your Business
   To build your business by referrals we can't just ask "oh by the way...".  We need to teach our sphere how to refer people to us.  I know that might sound strange and you might be asking "how do we "teach" someone to refer  people?"  We can teach by leading.  We should be leading our sphere through a referral process and ultimately asking for specific referrals from their place of work (as an example) instead of a generic "if you know anyone...".

5. Developing a Strategy and Implementing it!
   Often times sales people can spend too much time on things that won't impact their business. I normally find out as much as I can about a sales person's business, such as:

   • Business mix

   • Monthly average sales by dollar volume

   • Average commission per deal

   • Howthey spend their time each day

   • What their objective is when they make a phone or office call

   • What the objective is when they advertise

   Then I'd create an Intentional Marketing Plan and we would develop an implementation strategy and accountability program that will work to increase business.

6. Elevate Your Status become ..."an Authority!"
   In most markets I bet 90% of all consumers already know at least one agent. So how will you differentiate yourself from your competition?  One way to accomplish this is to elevate yourself to an authority status.  Kind of like "celebrity" status...but not so me, me, me.  Some ideas on this will be appearing in a future blog post.

7. Persevere (a doer who acts) with Accountability
   This may be the most difficult for sales people to accomplish on their own.  Many people suffer from what I call "The Excuse Pattern Syndrome".  When we avoid doing things that are uncomfortable or that we just don't like to do...we usually use the same excuses to convince ourselves (and others) that "it wasn't my fault I didn't get around to...".  Get yourself an accountability partner...someone who won't pacify you and let you off the hook too easily...ut can encourage and lead you through those challenges one step at a time. 

All it takes is a weakness in one to cripple your business!

I'll be adding posts on these topics in the future - if you don't want to wait and you would like help building your business visit my web page: www.ImpactYourSalesNow.com/coaching.html

Happy Sales,

Jeff