One of my clients is two months into their implementation of The Revenue Growth Habit with me, and their sales and customer service staff is communicating far more proactively than they were before.
On Friday, we were debriefing the project with the group and discussing success stories:
One salesman followed up on a quote five times, closed a deal for a new product, which will be re-ordered throughout the year, adding a significant recurring line item worth tens of thousands of dollars throughout the year. Before our project, he said, he would not have followed up this many times, because he would be worried about angering the customer and losing the business.
Lesson one: He made five follow-up efforts. He did not know which one would work, or even if any of the follow-ups would work. But nevertheless, he kept trying. If he would have stopped at four follow-ups, he would have never known how close he was to the sale. Just one additional step. But, as Thomas Edison said, when we quit, were will never know if the next effort will be the one that works.
Lesson two: Selling a new product to a long-time customer is gold for your revenue growth. Because for most of you, that first time order will turn into a repeat order. And if you’re good, customer will keep buying. And because you are better than you think, every time you sell somebody something new, they will likely keep buying it.
Lesson three: The same goes for new customers. When somebody buys from you for the first time, it’s almost certain they’ve been buying that product from your competition previously, and will need to keep buying it going forward. This is why it’s critical that we talk to prospect. Call prospects. If you call one a day, that’s five per week, 20 per month, and 240 per year. If there are 10 sales people in your group, that’s 2,400 per year. If just 5% buy, that’s 120 new customers, most of whom will buy regularly. What’s one new regular customer worth to you? What are 120 new customers worth? See how this works?
Lesson four: This salesman said he would not have been comfortable following up five times on a quote before our work together. That’s because he didn’t know how much his customers liked and appreciated working with him. First, I talked to his customers, recorded the calls, and then played them for the room. This salesman, and all his colleagues, heard from customers about how good they are. They marinated in the positivity of their customers. (Customer don’t call when they’re happy, even though most usually are.) This staff, as all my clients do, became more bold, more optimistic, more confident, and more positive. Every one of those traits, on their own, leads to increased sales.Together, they create perseverance superheroes!
This salesman will sell a lot more this year. So will many of his colleagues. This company will grow significantly in the next year.
But he, like you, was uncomfortable following up before we worked together.
That was his discomfort, not the customers’.
That is your discomfort, not the customers’.
To discuss installing The Revenue Growth Habit at your organization, call me at 847-459-6322 or reply to this email.