Ways to encourage your sales team on a bad sales day

colleagues in a meeting

Every boss wants their sales team to be pumped up and motivated daily, but what do you do when they’re having a bad sales day?

It can be tough to know how to encourage your team when they’re feeling down, but remember that a little support can go a long way. Here are things you can do to help your team get back on track.

Use rewards

It is no surprise that sales reps are constantly under pressure. Sales do, after all, come with a lot of rejection.

Additionally, it’s not uncommon to have your sales representatives burn out or experience slumps if they don’t feel valued or compensated for their efforts. Drive them to meet those increased quotas by giving them rewards to strive toward.

Shift the focus

Even the toughest of spirits will become worn down by relentlessly pushing for achievements.

Why not assist your team in developing a set of daily and weekly objectives that will lead to the achievement of an ultimate goal?

For instance, daily goals can be to initiate five new sales calls or advance at least three deals to the following step of the process. Short-term confidence is generated by completing such smaller tasks, which can aid a salesman in getting out of a slump and feeling better.

Be a cheerleader
a woman with animated actions in a meeting

Image Credits: betterup.com

Anyone in the sales industry deals with rejection, hostility, and frustration on a weekly, if not, daily basis. It’s challenging to overcome all obstacles and maintain motivation on a routine basis. Cheer on your team!

Foster collaboration

Although competition among salesmen of the same team can be detrimental, it is in their nature to be competitive. It causes some people to neglect their coworkers while making others resent them.

To counter that, encourage cooperation over rivalry. The objective is to compete with other businesses and not with one another. Encourage collaboration by rewarding coaching, expertise, and cooperative efforts to outperform rivals.

Find what motivates each individual

Different salesmen are driven for various reasons.

Friendly sales competition among the entire team can inspire some employees while some people are motivated by reaching quotas.

Some individuals are pushed by career perks, while others are driven by their influence on the company. There are also likely many people who are motivated by income. Use the motivators that each person has to communicate with your team.

When your sales team is having a bad day, it can be tough to get them motivated again. But with the right tips, you can encourage them to get back on track. By using the abovementioned tips, you can help your sales team rebound from a bad sales day and start selling better than they usually do.

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How To Avoid Losing Money To High-Pressure Or Hard Sell

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You might have encountered a salesman who constantly pushes a product for you even if you expressed feelings of indifference towards it. This aggressive form of sales or advertising is called “hard sell”. A hard sell, or high-pressure sell, encourages a consumer to purchase a product or a service in a short period of time such as when you are trying to sell a limited car model.

The advantage of hard sell is that it is direct and it helps earn quick bucks. Its disadvantages include customer annoyance and customer avoidance (as some may sound like a scam).

When caught in a situation where high-pressure sell is present, remember these following tips:

  1. UNDERSTAND

Before coming to a decision, it is best to understand the product or service in the eyes of trusted individuals or previous customers. Ask as many questions as necessary.

  1. LOOK AT THE FINE PRINT

Read the fine print such as hidden charges and product risks to avoid adverse side effects and unwanted circumstances.

  1. LEARN TO SAY “NO”

Do not let your momentary emotions and wants dictate your purchase. If the product or service is really unnecessary, learn to say “NO”. For the pushy telemarketers, firmly tell them that you are not interested and end the conversation on the dot.

  1. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

If you have been sold a financial product that you did not sign up for or if a telemarketer calls you harasses you with numerous calls, file an appropriate complaint.

Now, if you are a marketer that is trying to avoid the hard sell approach, remember these following tips:

  1. RESEARCH

Assess your target market and focus on building your brand rather than using threatening marketing tactics.

  1. BUILD A STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CUSTOMER

If you are hard selling, the tendency is for the consumer to look for a similar service or product that is less pushy. To avoid this, build a strong relationship with the customer by engaging him or her with a good experience. This will create loyal customers in the long run.

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(Image credit: George Redgrave via Flickr)

Sources: 1

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Increase Your Sales Through Social Influence

As the technology advances, the presence of social media became inevitable. With this in mind, the marketing department must up their game by creating and showcasing a credible online persona for the company and its products or services. A great online persona will attract more people to the website, boost the brand’s loyal consumers, and increase the number of new consumers.

The efficiency of this social influence is due to the Bandwagon Effect. Bandwagon Effect is a phenomenon that occurs when people do something predominantly because others are doing it. Social media allows the consumers to talk about a brand and its competitors. Using this tool to your advantage can help boost your sales.

In fact, Engage Selling‘s C. Francis once said that sales of US$30,000-250,000 were once made due to finding opportunities in LinkedIn or Twitter.

HOW TO BOOST YOUR SOCIAL INFLUENCE?

1. INTEGRATE TESTIMONIALS

Integrate honest testimonials by using the company’s website, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, or other social media accounts. This is a way to show the clients’ great experiences – making the company be as relatable as possible. People are more likely to be patronizing a product if they heard about it from an existing satisfied client.

2. ENABLE CLIENT’S REVIEWS AND RATINGS

Truth be told, whenever I am about to watch the latest movie or eat from a new cafe, I would search for the previous reviews and ratings first. This is because I want to get my money’s worth by choosing the best and the most affordable products or services out there. Adding this feature to your website will allow direct feedback to increase your credibility. This is what e-commerce websites such as Amazon or eBay strive for.

3. FEATURE YOUR AWARDS

If your company won an award or has been featured in an article or two, post them up for everybody to see. Through this, it will show a new consumer that your brand has shines from the rest because your product or services are outstanding.

4. PUT SOCIAL MEDIA WIDGETS OR PLUGINS

Adding social media widgets or plugins that enable the consumer to share your content is important as it optimizes the traffic that will only come back to your company’s website. One example of it is “ShareThis” (get the code here– for free). It is important that your valued clients see the number of likes, shares, or followers. A hint of trust to the brand increases, as they will see their friends patronizing the same product or service.

Image Credits: mkhmarketing via Flickr

Image Credits: mkhmarketing via Flickr

To sum it up, a sure-fire way to increase your brand’s desirability, profits, and consumer interaction is to boost your social media influence.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, & 4

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Be a Smart Consumer: Avoid These 4 Marketing Tricks

To be a smart consumer, you must spend within your needs and not over your means. Marketing or Sales Agents like any other businesses are using the power of persuasion to gain profit. I’m not saying it is a bad thing (personally I think it is a talent), but it may influence the consumers to buy something that is rather unnecessary.

Image Credits: Andrew Stawarz via Flickr

Image Credits: Andrew Stawarz via Flickr

On that note, here are 4 Marketing Tricks you shall learn to avoid…

1. Foot-in-the-Door

It is a technique that starts with small requests in order to gain a “YES” with bigger requests. This works because of our desire to be consistent in our commitments.

For example, Fitness Studios will make you test their services first by giving a 1-week free pass before offering you their packages. Do you really need a $1,800 worth of Gym Membership when you rarely have the time to go?

2. Door-in-the-Face

In contrast, this trick starts with a huge and unreasonable request in order for you to settle with a smaller request.

For example, your friend asks you to donate $100 to a charity institution and you declined. Your friend will then say: “can you at least donate $10”. And, you will agree and comply. The truth is, your friend only intends for you to donate $10.

3. Low-Balling

Technique to purposely offer a product at a lower price than one intends to charge. This tactic will make you buy something at an affordable price before revealing the hidden costs (i.e., insurance, the phone casing, or batteries).

Image Credits: JOHN LLOYD via Flickr

Image Credits: JOHN LLOYD via Flickr

For example, a Car Salesman offers you an initial attractive offer that you can’t resist but then later increases the price because of a “mistake in labeling”. Once again, Psychology dictates that it works because of our need to be consistent in our choices.

4. Brainwashed by Advertising

There you have it! As Warren Buffett once said: “Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1”. I hope that by knowing these, you will be able to make smarter consumer choices in the future.

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