I am a big fan of Michael Gerber who wrote the excellent small business book, The E-Myth. In it, he advocates setting up a system where you run your business as if it were a franchise. For me, the most important takeaway from the book is this: You need to spend more time working on your business and less working in your business.
If you are a solo business owner and most of what you do is run your business, then you didn't really create a business for yourself, but rather, a job for yourself. Devoting more time to sales is one of those things you can do to work on your business. It pays off, and, if done right, even frees you up. 
Here are four steps to increase sales:
1. Commit
I recently attended a seminar by master salesman, Chet Holmes ( The Ultimate Sales Machine ). Chet says the main thing you need to be a sales success is "pigheaded discipline and determination." Translated: You have to make a commitment to increase sales.
The first commitment is one of time. You simply must commit the time necessary every week to prospect more, and then sell more. And don't tell me you don't have the time. You do. If you have to delegate more, then do it.
If you have to stop golfing so much, then so be it. Increased sales, at least initially, means an increased commitment of time. Commitment also means learning how to sell better. Sales is one of those things that, even if it does not come naturally, can be learned. How?
Takes a sales training course online, via CD, or in person. Buy a sales book and read it.
2. Make a wish list
This is also a strategy that Chet Holmes advocates. Why? Because it works. If you want more clients or customers, then make a wish list of who your best customers would be. I want you to think BIG.
Think about those people or companies who could make you more money with equal, or even less effort, and begin to contact them.
I have a pal who is a commercial real estate broker. For years, he sold duplexes and four plexes, happy to make between $10,000 and $25,000 a deal. His father kept telling him to think bigger, saying, "It takes the same amount of work to sell a 50-unit apartment building as it does to sell a triplex."
My buddy finally wised up, made a list of large apartment owners in the area, and began to contact them. Now he sells large apartment complexes and makes a lot more money. And yes, he works less now.
3. Follow up
Once you have your list of best possible customers and you begin to contact them, you need to follow up. In radio, it is said that a listener has to hear a phone number six times before they really hear it. That's the same idea
One of my best friends is a salesman for a national company. He sells a six-figure product and is quite good at it. He is taught, and teaches, that a lead has to hear from you five to six times before they buy.
How do you keep track of all of these possible customers and where they are in the sales cycle? You need a system. I think the new version of Office with Business Contact Manager is the place to start.
4. Constantly aim for the second sale
It takes far more work to get the first sale than the second one. The same man who suggested that my friend sell big apartments is also fond of saying that business is like a jar of pickles. Getting the first metaphorical pickle out of the jar is hard, but after that, they come out easy. That's the idea here.
Selling to bigger and better clients takes time and effort initially. Getting that first pickle out is tough. But once you make an initial sale to the new customer, the will rest come much easier.
Adapted from an article by Steve Strauss. |
