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It’s Only Common Sense: Five Tips to Kick Start Your Sales

Are you stuck in those sales doldrums, the bane of even the best salespeople? Everything has come to a standstill, you’re not even hearing from your good customers nor getting answers on quotes that looked so promising and imminent just last week. You’re sitting there wondering, “What’s next? How will I get out of this rut?”

We’ve all been there and we all know the feeling. With just a week left in the month, you’re starting to feel like you won’t make your numbers, and wondering if your year is already in serious jeopardy. You’re panicking so much that you’re now frozen in a quagmire of inactivity.

Now what? What will you do next? How will you kick start your day and get out of this rut? No worries. Here are five things you can do today to get things moving again:

1. Call the customers you have not heard from in a while. These customers used to do business with you. You’re on their AVL. Some of them were even friends, so chances are good they will answer the phone. Call them, say hello, and ask why they haven’t ordered anything in a while. If there was a problem, you’re taking the first step to solving it. Your contact may even be able to refer you to a prospective client; ask them for an email introduction. You will have at least learned something and broken out of your inactivity.
2. Double-check your outstanding quotes. Remember the most important sales adage of all time: “No news is bad news.” Our job in sales is to keep the ball rolling forward at all times; we can never sit back and wait for the business to come to us, so follow up on your quotes. Never be afraid to bother people; be gently persuasive. They had something you want, and you have to let them know you want it more than the other guys.
3. Email your contacts. Create a short but persuasive personal email about your company, products, and services. Send it to your contact list. This kind of email is not a newsletter, but rather a personal message to remind them you’re still around and ready to serve. Include some news about your company, such as a new equipment purchase, a new technology you’ve developed, or a new hire that will have meaning to them. Help them to see why they should care about these recent developments. Always make sure you include a call to action. A good way to do that is by setting up a phone call or an in person visit; it must be something that will engage the receiver.
4. Engage in lead generation. Research on LinkedIn and Google to find some new prospective customers, then create a simple template of your ideal customer profile and use it to find the right target customers. There are thousands of possible target customers out there waiting for you to find them. This step alone can productively fill any extra time you have.
5. Get involved with social media. If you haven’t already, set up a business Google account, a LinkedIn profile, a Twitter account, Instagram, and more. If your company already has a company page on those platforms, contribute to it and share their posts. The more you get your name and your company’s name out there, the better chance you have of being found. Social media provides an excellent marketing opportunity, no matter the size of the company. It’s the ultimate equalizer. As far as the social media world is concerned, all companies are equal, so your effectiveness there is based entirely on how, when, and how often you post. Most important, it’s what you post. Be thoughtful, creative, personal, and informative.

These are five solid, logical, effective, and easy things to do when you find yourself stuck in the sales doldrums. It’s as easy as that. Print this out and keep it handy for the next time you start out your sales day with no idea what do to.

It’s only common sense.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group.