One of my reader’s recently wrote in to ask a really relevant and common question in this age of information overload. His question:
There are thousands of bloggers, articles, books, and consultant firms, which unavoidably means there are also countless approaches, theories, and best practices in sales. But how can you tell which of those “best” practices are really the best ones to use?
With all the resources you can tap into, it’s easy to become confused about what will – and won’t – help you become the most successful salesperson you can be. New books are published all the time. You’re invited to new sales-related webinars every day. And new tools are created on a regular basis that are designed to make you a more effective or efficient sales rep.
Collectively, it can all be very overwhelming. So, what can you do to filter out the content, tools, and resources that will actually improve your ability to sell?
Here’s my advice: Pick one.
Pick one area of sales to work on, hone in on the best practices for that specific aspect of sales, and then identify the tactics or best practices that jive most with your market and your personal sales strategy.
For example:
- If one of the areas you struggle with is prospecting, then look for advice, tips and tools to get better at just prospecting so you can generate more leads. Watch how your pipeline expands as you do.
- If your closing rates aren’t where you’d like them to be, then focus on the one or two ways you could improve them. Suddenly you’ll be closing more, and possibly even bigger sales.
Ultimately, the thing you want to avoid is “shiny object syndrome” — the malady of constantly chasing the next hot, trendy, or supposedly earth shattering sales idea. Typically, the byproduct of doing that is more distractions, less focus, and a totally disjointed sales approach.
Start with one thing — the one thing that you think could have the biggest impact on your personal sales results. Once you feel like you’ve improved that one aspect of your sales ability, then choose the next thing to work on.
This will help you sift through the sludge of content and tools that are available to you every day and focus only on that which will really help you win more deals, become more successful, and make more money now.
What’s your one area that will make the biggest difference in your personal sales results? Share your thoughts below and let’s talk about it.