6 Tips to Improve Your Sales

Sales has always been about relationships, but in our digital world, it can sometimes feel hard to create meaningful connections with others. To win at sales, however, you have to up your people game.

Here are a few good places to start on your road to improving your sales skills.

1. Learn, don’t sell, in sales calls – Getting a client on the phone is a privilege, especially when that client is a key decision-maker. Use those precious minutes wisely by learning as much as you can about what they need. What are their priorities? What are their pain-points? What motivates them in their business decisions? Once those 30 or 60 minutes are up, now you can go back and create a custom solution to address those needs and concerns.
   
2. Stay in touch – Don’t drop your client like a bad first date. Follow up! People are busy, and we all need nudges when other priorities inevitably float to the surface. Stay top-of-mind with your clients by routinely following up with them. Persistence pays off. A study from Hubspot found that 80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls. What’s more, 60% of customers will say no four times before finally saying yes.
   
3. Focus on the client’s buying process – When you’re in the business of sales, it can be easy to always be thinking about the selling process, but make sure you also think about your client’s buying process. Put yourself in their shoes and consider potential obstacles, questions or concerns they may have about committing to your product or solution.
   
4. Focus on listening instead of what your reply will be – When the pressure is on, like it sometimes can be during a sales call, it can be easy for our brains to start doing weird things on us. Keep it focused by zeroing in your efforts on listening – and listening alone. Don’t think ahead to what your reply will be, or you’ll miss what the client truly has to say. Only after you’ve heard and understood your client can you really offer a solution.
   
5. Sell the destination, not the airline ticket – Yes, your product is amazing. But it’s not really what your client wants. They want the amazing destination you promise – think beachside vibes, not middle-seat. When you focus on selling the transformative experience your product will create for your client (i.e., the destination), your messaging will resonate much more profoundly with your clients.
   
6. Focus on Providing Value – You founded your business with the intent of filling a gap in the market – to bring value and solutions where something was lacking. Don’t lose sight of that purpose when interacting one-on-one with clients. Listen to their needs and commit to a partnership with them that adds value to both of you.

Improving your sales will take effort, but nothing we’ve outlined here should be too revolutionary. It’s about listening to your clients so they feel heard and understood, and then offering them valuable solutions that extend beyond just a product or service. Do this and your sales are sure to improve.