4 simple steps to fatten your sales

I've always held a contrarian view on hard work in sales. I've seen it proved over and over--the lazy guy wins. As you might expect there is a little more to the story.The secret to working less and producing more (in anything) is a little prior thought and planning. Sales is no exception. If you want to grow your sales pipeline with less work here are my secrets:1. Create effective call scripts - Nothing falls flatter than winging it on the telephone. You need to think through your sales pitch and all the twists and turns it can take before you ever pick up a phone.Take the time to build well thought out call scripts. Think through features, benefits, value statements, differentiators, ad objections. Think about what you say when they say, "No" and when they say "Yes."And don't forget to practice them and revise them. Your call scripts should be living documents.2. Make sure your order processing is flawless - This is the most frequent failure I see in sales--you get the deal and then your delivery is awful.Imagine this nightmare: The sales part of the transaction is flawless. You get the customer excited, full of great expectations, and committed to your value. Then fulfillment falls flat. Processing the transaction and delivering the product or service is a big customer disappointment.You know what I mean. You might have even experienced it: endless phone tag, misplaced documentation, constant requests to re-fax documents, missed appointments, etc.They said, "yes" and then you put them through the wringer to get what they paid for--not good. Get your fulfillment as flawless and delightful as your sales process.3. Design a lead nurturing system - Not everyone says, "yes." Hard to believe, but true.However, there is a little realized secret. A very low percentage of people say, "yes" immediately. However, a very high percentage of people will say, "yes" eventually. Some research has tracked this number to be as high as 75% of sales prospects convert to sales (somewhere) within twelve months.That's why you need to have a lead nurturing system. You need to keep those prospects warm and your services top of mind. They will convert. Make sure they're still in your sales pipeline when they do. Design a plan and execute on it. Make regular, valuable touches to every prospect with a combination of emails and follow-up calls.4. Start a customer newsletter - One of the best ways to nurture prospects is to start an email newsletter. Give your customers a regular reminder of how valuable your relationship can be. Send them insightful articles and updates on your industry or market. Now is a perfect time to consider this with so much change and volatility in the economy and market.These four tips are great starting points to improving your closing ratios. Are you willing to commit for more clients? Which steps are you going to put into place today?

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