7 Actions to Control Your Sales Success

By Paul McCord , President, McCord and Associates

Have you planned how you’re going to make successful sales? If you haven’t, it isn’t too late – but you’re already behind the eight ball. Here are 7 actions you must take and take now if you want to control your own destiny:

1. Flush Out All of the Tail Chasing “Prospects” in Your System
We all have “prospects” in our pipeline that take up time and energy but that we know in our hearts will never buy. Get them out of your system now. Don’t spend any more of your precious time on them. Concentrate on real prospects not the “hope someday.” Vow not to spend any more time chasing your tail.

2. Get Organized
Most of us spend as much or more time “organizing” each day as we do working. Take a day or two and get yourself organized and then 30 minutes each evening getting ready for the next day. Don’t waste time “getting ready” to sell.

3. Know Who a Real Prospect Is
If you haven’t already defined your ideal prospect(s) in detail, do so now. Many waste a great deal of time chasing unqualified prospects because they haven’t taken the time to define for themselves exactly who their real prospects are.

4. Focus Only on Real Prospects
Even many who have defined in-detail who their real prospects are, find themselves chasing after those who don’t qualify. Commit yourself to staying on track. Defining your prospect doesn’t do any good if you allow yourself to wander.

5. Eliminate the Success Killing Busy Work
If what you do isn’t directly involved with finding qualified prospects, making sales presentations and closing sales, or getting a sale completed its busy work. Busy work may make you feel like you’re accomplishing something but it isn’t making you a dime. If it doesn’t make you money, don’t do it.

6. Learn to Generate Referrals
Referrals are the best, most cost-effective prospecting and marketing method there is. Nothing can beat referrals in terms of ROI, close ratio, and client loyalty. Yet, few salespeople generate many quality referrals. Less than 15% of all salespeople generate enough quality referrals to impact their business. Learn the process that really generates a large number of high quality referrals and turn your clients into your marketing platform.

7. Create a Consistent Client Communication Campaign
If you don’t already have a consistent communication campaign for your clients and prospects, create one now. You should be touching each of your clients and long-term prospects 12 to 16 times a year. Use a combination of media – calls, emails, newsletters, letters, postcards, etc. Make sure each of your communications brings value to your client. The key question to ask yourself before making any contact is “does this benefit the client or only me?” If it doesn’t benefit the client, don’t send it or don’t call. Never waste your client’s time.