BAM! Part 4 4 Easy Ways to Build Your Sales Pipeline

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Part 4 of my BAM! Training program is directed at sales professionals that need some easy tips for filling and maintaining their sales pipeline a.k.a sales funnel. 

My sales career began in earnest when I was a Brownie selling Thin Mints and in one fashion or another I've been in sales ever since. Unlike Thin Mints, most products aren't that easy to sell or that scrumptious.... those delicious crisp wafers, that hint of mint and the shell of dark chocolate that leaves a waxy residue on your teeth and that tell-tell smudge at the corners of your mouth. Nope, most products don't sell themselves and you as a sales professional will sometimes face rejection, unlike Brownie Girl Scouts. Who can resist those cute faces? Not me!  

Most of my career has been in outside sales -more specifically, selling media advertising and marketing. One lovely aspect of sales is that no matter how well you do, they always, always increase your goals! So in order for us to meet our ever increasing sales goals we have to continuously increase our sales opportunities. 

Part 4 of my BAM! Training program gives you 4 easy techniques for increasing your prospects, your pipeline and ultimately your bottom line. 

1. Schedule appointments with yourself! Keep these appointments like you would a client. Every week sales professionals need to have appointments with potential customers to makes sales but we also need to set aside time for cold calling, prospecting and researching.  I recommend committing large blocks of time (4 hours+) to each of those activities and avoid other distractions. Getting into a flow helps with productivity, offers better outcomes and makes the process feel easier.  
   • Schedule time for cold calling for appointments. Does that work best all day on Monday? or all day on Friday? Or do you do it three afternoons per week?
   • If you have a geographical territory, walk/drive your territory and identify prime prospects. Some of the best sales gems in my territories were hidden on 3rd and 4th floors of office buildings I had never set foot in... Go explore!
   • Schedule time before and after your set appointments to prospect next door and across the street from your appointment. Cluster appointments within a geographical territory whenever possible. 
2. Set DAILY activity goals! We know our sales revenue goals and they are usually calculated by year, quarter, month etc. but by setting our own daily activity goals we can create our own customized pathway to success. For me, I would set daily phone call goals, daily email goals and daily appointment setting goals. Those would give me a weekly outcome of success I could predict and ultimately I was able to exceed sales goals consistently using this strategy. To this day I tell my clients facing large, seemingly unattainable goals, "How do you eat an elephant? One small bite at a time!"                                                                                                                                                                         
3. Research your prospects! Don't waste your time on lousy prospects. Ask questions early in the sales process to weed out non qualified buyers and non-decision makers who would waste your valuable sales time. Doing a quick Google search, LinkedIn search or Hoovers search can save you a lot of disappointment down the line. By qualifying your prospects early you won't waste so much time on non-buyers. 
   • Know who your most ideal clients are and start at the top with the market leaders 
   • Know your products so well that you uncover potential untapped markets
   • Make sure the person you are in contact with can make the buying decision, has the budget and can make the purchase within a reasonable time period. 
4. Schedule follow up calls! Not everyone wants to meet with you now but "Not today" does not mean "Never-ever". If they are a well qualified customer, ask permission to stay in touch, ask when you should get back in touch and schedule that call, even if it's a year from today. I was never the most aggressive sales person but I was the most tenacious and persistent. The larger the organization, the longer the sales process will be so don't make the mistake of give up right before they agree to meet or buy! 

I hope you have found these 4 quick and easy tips helpful! I'd love your feedback! If I can help you build your pipeline click here! If I can help train your team to build pipelines click here! Or if you need business consulting or marketing consulting click here! For other amazing tips, suggestions and insights give me a follow on social media! 

Thanks for reading and now "Go Sell Like Hell! 

BE ACTION MINDED