While travelling home for Thanksgiving to visit family, it is so easy to get caught up in the holiday hustle. Instead, I am trying to reflect on this past year and ways to improve both personally and professionally. I am a firm believer that if you grow in one area, you will prosper in both. Key point: prosperity doesn't just happen; it takes planning and hard work.
So, this week, I am going to share some tips I have found that help me in sales and in life in general. While this blog is typically speaking to the marketer, this week, we'll shift focus to our partners in crime: the sales team. If you have some tips to share, please pass them along! I am a firm believer that we should learn from one another because chances are, someone else has faced the same challenges you're facing and overcome them! Whether that challenge is a tough sales call, closing a deal, meeting deadlines or struggling to reach the top of the hill when you're 10 miles into a half marathon, the same principles apply. BPI Media Group is committed to helping you reach those goals with your company as our partner!
As a sales person who is also a runner, I tend to approach sales like training for a race. The road work training is difficult, but the more miles you log, the better prepared for the race you'll be on the big day. The more sales calls made in a day or week, the easier it is to cold call and the percentage of accounts you'll land goes up with each call made. For those of you who are fellow runners or, like my boss, Alan Davis, President of BPI Media Group, you know when training for a race that you have goals each week of how many miles you'll log. It doesn't matter if it's cold, raining or 100 degrees, you'll find a way to reach those goals each week. Why? Because NOT reaching that goal is NOT an option! We can apply the same principle to our sales for ourselves and for our companies that we each represent.
In planning for 2012, here are some things that will help me stay on track and put together an achievable goal that I can confidently work toward and be proud once the year-end goal is reached. Consider BPI as your partner for the long run because who you partner with in training makes all the difference in how you reach your goals.
Tip 1: Map My Run. Anytime I'd go out for a longer run, I would use this handy online tool to plot out a course. The key in this is that you have to identify how far you want to go & what exactly you're wanting to achieve. When planning the direction of your company or your sales tactics, consider it the same way. Map out a plan of action to help you achieve the end result. BPI's sales team along with our creative department can help you plan out a way to reach your goals in a way that both cost and time efficient. Planning out an online storefront is a great way to do this. This maps out how the sales team (and other staff members) can order collateral and s.w.a.g. to assist them in their daily tasks of boosting sales for the company. Or consider, mapping out a direct mail campaign with staggered drops of mail and email messaging--a sure way to boost ROI!
Tip 2: Persevere, Train and Regroup. When you start out on course you've mapped out, you know quickly that it takes a great deal of diligence to persevere and not give up. This is the case when you've called 5 prospects in a row and either gotten screened or sent to voice mail all 5 times. Sure, it'd be easy to turn around and give up, but perseverance and training will only make you better and stronger. With each task you mark off your list, each contact you make, the better you get and the closer you are to reaching that goal. Preparing the sales team for how to handle the leads they'll be fed to keep the sales funnel full requires a team effort. This is where sales and marketing have to team up to generate leads, nurture those leads and convert them into long-term customers. BPI's online campaign dashboard is a great way to manage a campaign--whether it's using a purl, curl (personalized or campaign url), SMS text messaging, email marketing or QR code implementation, you can see how each piece of the campaign is working. If the course isn't going well, it's time to regroup. Modify your plan of attack and map an alternate route. Our cross-media campaigns allow for on-the-fly changes. That's the beauty of digital printing too!
Tip 3: Log Efforts and Results. After any run, write down or record your time, pace, energy level, etc. Some folks keep a journal; some folks use online tools through their iPod synced a gps device. Either way, measuring your results is key to knowing if you're getting closer to your goal. Same goes for your marketing campaign. How do you know if it's working for your company and your sales team? With the help of our online campaign dashboard, you can access campaign info in real time. This allows you to see your ROI as the campaign progresses. There's even a ROI calculator to help you stay on track and document the results.
Tip 4: Reap the Rewards. When you're on the last mile, that last stretch before the finish line, the feeling of accomplishment is within reach. Then, when you take that last step across the finish line and receive your finisher's medal, there's no denying a great sense of pride. The same holds true for landing a new account. After numerous calls, possibly even mail drops of a targeted campaign and then a few meetings to hammer out the details of the deal, once that "hand shake" to seal the deal is made or the contract is signed, you can report to your boss the good news that you won!
After going through the training process a few times for a big race or for a big meeting, you learn a little each time, accumulating an arsenal of tools to get a little better each time. I'd really like to hear how you plan your campaigns, track your results and celebrate a victory. Even better, I welcome the opportunity for BPI to be a part of your team in training for the next challenge your company faces: boosting sales in 2012!
Happy running and good sales all around. Until next time...Elizabeth
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