The sales industry has changed tremendously in the last few years. For one, technology has become a huge player. Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook have also enhanced the industry considerably. But even with all this tech, many salespersons are still struggling to hit their goals.
If that’s the issue you’re going through right now, then you’ve landed in the right place.
In this article, I will share some key tips and tricks on how you can improve your online sales game.
Let’s get started.
1. Set SMART Goals
The first step is setting out your goals and objectives. But don’t just create random goals; set SMART goals, i.e., specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. While creating the goals, it’s critical that you break them down into smaller pieces. You should have little objectives along the way.
Achieving these small goals will keep your motivation high as you work towards the bigger goals. The small objectives will also make the ultimate goal less intimidating. And how are you supposed to create these SMART goals? This can be a bit tricky since it requires a lot of analysis.
For starters, you’ll need to gather data from your own business and the market. Look at your resources and data from previous months or years. With these figures in mind, set realistic goals that you can achieve within a given timeline.
Secondly, inspect the market. Is there enough room for growth in the market, or do you need to look elsewhere? There’s a lot of analysis to be done here, but the good thing is most of the data you need is readily available online.
You can also invest in some affordable tools to speed up the process and generate more accurate data. As this review shows, some tools can even gather data on your competitors. Such tools are particularly useful in industries with stiff competition, like in the Amazon selling area.
However, the tools are only useful if you can interpret the data correctly and use it effectively.
2. Define Your Customer Personas
A customer persona is a representation of your customers. The persona carries different data points from demographics like age, gender, and location, to items like buyer’s interests and pain points.
The more detailed a buyer persona is, the more valuable it is. Why? Because the data helps you to create a highly targeted value proposition. Of course, the personas must be spot-on to deliver the desired results.
Where can you find this data? Well, you can get it from third parties for a fee.
Alternatively, you can set up a survey on your website and gather the data directly from your existing customers. Whichever method you choose, make sure the personas are comprehensive. Also, do not limit yourself to just one persona. If you know you have a diverse customer base, build different personas for each customer segment.
This will enhance your sales pitches since you’ll know what each group of prospects want.
3. Make An Irresistible Value Proposition
Creating value propositions is pretty easy once you have your buyer personas. You already know their interests and pain points, so you can adjust your proposition accordingly.
While making your proposition, try to be less “salesy” and more of an advisor. Being too aggressive in your sale is a massive turn-off among customers. Most of them will clearly see that the only thing you are interested in is your bottom life.
But as an assertive advisor, buyers will be more receptive. Additionally, they’ll see the actual value of your item, not just the money they’ll be spending.
4. Disqualify Unqualified Prospect
Disqualifying unqualified prospects is something many salespersons don’t want to hear. Understandably so.
Sadly, it’s something you have to do if you hope to boost the efficiency of your sales plan. So, go through your leads and trim down unqualified prospects who showed some interest in the initial stage but never moved through the sales funnel even after countless follow-ups.
You can even send them the “break-up newsletter” before letting them loose and see if you’ll get any response. If they react to the email, good, there’s still some hope. If they don’t, just move on. This saves you time, money, and other resources that can be redirected to generating more motivated leads.
5. Keep Track Of Your Progress
Don’t write down your goals and throw away the paper. Keep it handy and maintain a detailed record of everything you are doing to achieve the goal. Your records should reflect all the challenges you are going through, plus the wins you are collecting on the way.
But writing down the progress is not enough by itself. Pick a day every week or month to evaluate the progress. Have you achieved everything you set out to do in that period? If not, what happened, and how can you do things differently moving forward?
These are some of the questions you should ask yourself when going through the progress reports.
At the end of the day, you must remember that sales require a lot of patience. So once you create your goals and start working on them, don’t lose hope if you don’t see any instant results. Stay patient and fight the urge to be overly aggressive. The numbers will get better soon enough.
