Top 7 Sales Skills to Increase Sales in 2009 Regardless of the Economy

Being a top sales producer extends beyond youryour customers every 30 to 60 days Do you
technical sales skills into your personal or selfhave a customer loyalty plan where you contact
leadership skills. You must have knowledge of theyour existing active customers every 30 to 60
results from your marketing and selling actionsdays? How about your inactive ones? When was
along with incredible self leadership skills. Thesethe last time you contacted them? Given that for
seven sales skills can potentially deliver far moreyour customers to maintain a top of mind
results than any technical selling skill such as factawareness (TOMA) requires at least 3 contacts
finding to closing.per month, what opportunities are you creating
Number One Sales Skill: Track Your Progressfor your competitors to steal your customers?
Right now, do you know where you stand specificNumber Five Sales Skill: Leave your Ego at the
to:doorWhen times are good and when times are
- Leads in your marketing funnel?bad, your ego should be left at the door.
- Follow ups on those leads?Customers do not owe you a sale nor do they
- Statements of work a.k.a. proposals?owe you a referral. What you owe your
- Orders in your sales funnel?customers is a trusted advisor who is more
- Delivery of orders?concerned about them than a sales person who is
- Follow ups after each completed earned sale?only concerned about himself or herself and
- Referrals?making that next sale
Number Two Sales Skill: Know all of your salesNumber Six Sales Skill: Be authentic in ALL actions
numbers Do you know all the numbers respectiveAre you truly authentic in all of your actions? Do
to your sales actions? These numbers mayyou mean what you say? Do you follow up on all
include and are not limited to:of your promises? Do you return all calls even
- Sales to earn ratio a.k.a. sales to close ratiowhen you know them to be potentially bad?
- Sales cycle timeNumber Seven Sales Skill: Listen more than you
- Average dollar value per saletalk Great sales professionals understand the
Number Three Sales Skill: Increase your currentvalue of listening. As said by many, if you were
actions by 10% What would happen if youdesigned to talk more than to listen, you would
increase your current actions by just 10%? Thehave two mouths and only one ear. Use your
simple action of increasing your daily focusedtwo ears at least five times more than your
activity might look like this:mouth. As a wise man once told me: If you are
- Instead of making 10 calls per day, you may 11.telling, you ain't selling.
- Instead of setting 10 appointments every twoRegardless if the economy is up or down, these 7
weeks, you set 11sales skills can keep your marketing and sales
- Instead of making 10 presentations every fourfunnels full. You will increase sales and develop
weeks, you make 11incredible strong customer loyalty.
Number Four Sales Skill: Reconnect with all of