Habits are routine behaviors that are repeated enough to become automatic. Habits help enhance productivity, build relationships, and increase overall performance.
Many AEs need to add new habits to their priorities. Adding some or all of the below will help improve your chances of closing deals and achieving your sales goals. Take a look!
Perform non-selling activities before 9am or after 4pm. Examples include sending thank you notes, writing proposals and building recaps and entering orders.
Know and track your metrics. Know how many appointments you need to make every week to be successful. How much do you need to present weekly? What is your closing ratio and average deal size?
Use technology to your advantage throughout the entire sales process. If you haven’t started using AI in sales yet, you miss out on a huge time saver. Use AI chat and search, video tools like Vidyard, plus one of the many email tracking software tools. One of my favorites is KRISP. It is a noise reduction app that blocks background noise on virtual calls, and as an added benefit, it transcribes all your meetings!
Have a valid business reason (VBR) each time you contact a client or prospect. Tailor your VBR for the client when you first start the connection process. Continue using a VBR as you ask for the appointment and do your follow-up. A VBR tells the prospect what’s in it for them.
Block out 1–2 hours per day for new business development. This includes researching categories, networking, asking for referrals, identifying leads, and qualifying targets. Emailing and social media and, most importantly, scheduling appointments.
Prepare yourself and your prospect for each needs analysis meeting. Fill out a needs analysis worksheet with a list of questions you want to ask and topics to discuss. Focus on the prospect's desired business results, how you will measure success, and contact a good plan for the “next steps.” Never leave the meeting without scheduling the meeting to come back and advise the client/prospect.
Follow-up after every meeting. Provide a timeline to help the prospect visualize what’s next. Offer something of value and restate the top 3 actions or next steps.
Follow the Don’t Give Up sequence with new target accounts. Consider category and target persona. Approach the prospect in several different ways over a short period of time. We recommend 7-9 outreaches over a 2 to 2 ½ week time period. Most importantly, ensure you have a strong valid business reason for the client to want to meet with you. Use it in all your attempts to connect.
Rehearse every presentation and role-play handling objections. The best of the best rehears and role play handling objections. Rehearse the presentation and identify objections to overcome. Use mini closes and ask for the order.
Provide monthly or quarterly recaps of your solutions to target and key accounts. Sell the success of your solutions – activities, progress, and results. Clients want and need to hear it. Describe the data clearly and concisely and include recommendations for future actions.
Ask for referrals each time a client compliments you, your company, or your solution. You will be surprised how many clients will give you a referral if you only ask.
These habits enhance productivity, maintain client relationships, and drive new business development.
If you want to be a top seller, choose one or two habits and start building these powerful routines today.