I’m coaching a great sales person right now. She sells contract product mainly to hospitality and commercial designers. So she is taking my e-course Powering up Your Sales NOW! and had this response when I checked in with her and asked how she was doing?

She said she was getting a little frustrated. That it took so much less time making appointments by just calling, showing up and showing product. She said this is taking so much more time.

What do you think I responded?

GOOD, PERFECT! Your on your way to making more money!

You see she is now finding business and not just being busy. There is a vast difference. Making appointments with people who have no current business (current needs) for you or your products is a lot easier but makes a great deal of busy work and fewer sales. Great if you don’t want to make as much money. But we’re lured into thinking the more we do, the more business we will get.

There’s a old sales motto…you must seed the territory, meaning get as much product in front of as many clients as you can. Well if you’ve ever planted any type of seeds, you’ll know some take root, others do not! And those that do not are wasted time where you are not making money. You may be making friends, but not money. You’re allowing the process to drive your wages instead of you taking the steering wheel and controlling your income.

Finding business, calling and qualifying as to whether the account has current business will most likely take more time, of course. I call it front-loading. But doing this work up front is making you money. Finding out who has current business, focusing more time on them and being the solution to what they need is how you make more money in less time.

It’s a sales person’s primary job to find business…period! Not to market product. Here’s a couple of quick tips to get you started on the right track to making more money in less time:

LEAN INTO THE MOST LOYAL COMPANIES

A transactional sales approach focuses more on the sales outcome, while a strategic sales approach leans more toward understanding the customer’s needs and building a relationship that goes beyond the initial sale. source: USA today
Look at your sales data (do not rely on your perception, it could lead you down the wrong path). See which clients have been most loyal. In other words, who has purchased from you most often. The more loyal they are, the more you want to make them a priority. This is many times not the biggest sales to date (again, that could be misleading – they could be transactional sales which, while necessary, may not the best choice for strong, continued business), so we have to allocate our time appropriately.

You have a 50-60% greater chance of selling more to an existing, loyal client than a transactional one.
Those are pretty awesome statistics if your goal is to make more money every year, wouldn’t you say? Loyalty means you probably have a stronger relationship with them (although I know a lot of reps who have really tight relationships with people who rarely buy anything!) and they are already “FANS” of your products.

So start at the top of the list of most loyal and work down. Yes, this is where the work is, but it’s like GPS. Sometimes the route may seem longer, but it gets you there faster!

Then call these top, loyal clients and start to qualify.

Do they have current needs where they can use your product? Great..tell me more!