5 Strategies for Entrepreneurs to Improve Sales

If you've just started a business, you need sales, right? Trouble is, you may not be sure how to put together a sales approach. And, the truth is, there is no magic formula for sending your sales through the roof. So, stop looking.

Also, stop buying the popular belief that sales is a profession where “you either have it, or you don’t.” As with any job, effective sales techniques, tactics and skills can be taught. With that in mind, here are five strategies for entrepreneurs looking to improve sales at their newly started businesses:

1. Understand when a "yes" is really a "no." 

When you run a startup, your most precious resource -- even more so than capital or product -- is time. Customers will often lead you to believe they’re interested in what you’re offering when they actually aren’t; and this can be a significant drain on your time. For example, many entrepreneurs spend a fair share of time at trade shows and events and collect dozens or even hundreds of business cards from potential customers.

The reality is, however, that many of these prospective customers offered their card as a way of excusing themselves from the conversation. The key is to decipher who is truly interested. When someone is, that person will likely ask a lot of questions. He or she wants more of your time and will inquire about your pricing, ways in which you deploy your product, etc.

2. Talk about the problem, not the solution.

Sounds counterintuitive, right? It won’t when you put this strategy into action: When it comes down to it, people are interested in their own problems, not your solutions. If you detail your product’s five most impressive features, the customer will fade in and out of focus waiting for you to finish. However, ask about customers' problems and they will be happy to tell you all about their issues. This will make them feel more invested in your solution and provide clues as to how you should be positioning your wares. Maybe it’s your ninth and tenth most impressive features that will actually benefit them.

3. If prospective customers don't reply, do it for them.

Say a client hasn't responded to your message. Rather than send a new email and change the wording to make it seem like a first communication, reply to your own. This accomplishes two things: It allows the recipient to view the content of your original email and glean the intended information. Second, it allows you to inquire directly about receipt of your initial correspondence. If recipients then respond that they did receive your first email and aren’t interested, you don’t need to waste any more of your valuable time selling them.

Some, though, will just bounce back and say they’re sorry and areinterested. If you don’t hear back at all, give it a few more days and reply to your email one more time -- this time asking directly if the recipient prefers you to end the contact. This direct approach has an extremely positive success rate with customers responding for two reasons: 1) They are interested and for whatever reason haven't been able to get back to you yet; or 2) They accept the out you've offered to stop contacting them. Either way, you know where you stand and can proceed accordingly.

4. Personalize your communications.

If you are taking the time to write a personalized message to a prospective client, make sure he or she knows it. Include private anecdotes, discuss how your product or service would benefit this person specifically or perhaps touch on personal experiences that can be applied to this person's business. Don’t ever let a customer assume an email is just an automated direct marketing outreach if it isn’t.

5. Don’t pit your sales team members against one other.

The best sales teams are the ones that work together. Competition can spur hard work, but individually that work often operates to the detriment of the team as a whole. There are direct and ancillary benefits to cultivating a positive dynamic within the team. Creating synergy within your sales force will lead to increased communication, peer teaching, information sharing as it pertains to customers and leads and, ultimately, sales. Whether your small business is just you and an employee handling sales, or if you have a more robust team in place, teamwork will always trump rivalry in the long run.

And so now you know the truth. Inflated sales aren’t a result of trickery or some mystical strategy, but rather a product of the details: investing a personal touch, working together, listening to the customer’s difficulties and utilizing your resources correctly with the right leads. Focus on doing the small things right and leave your competitors to wonder where your magic comes from.

Hampus Jakobsson

6 Strategies for Transforming Your Life and Business Now

As entrepreneurs, we’re always striving for new ambitions and goals. Idea’s are constantly popping up in our head, and the list of to do’s keeps piling up. It's likely you set some big goals at the beginning of this year. It’s important you pause to think about your progress thus far. Letting too much time go by without evaluating your life and business breeds complacency. 

Ask yourself if you’ve been sticking with the commitments you promised yourself. With less than two months left in the year, it’s important to understand the roll momentum is playing in your life. The two scariest things in life and business are: 

1. Momentum

2. Lack of momentum 

People think resolutions start January 1, when in actuality they started a couple weeks ago. It’s the habits you’ve carried the past 30-to-60 days that will determine how you finish this year and start your 2015. It’s how you’ve been living that determines your current reality, and future success or failure. Remember what Henry Ford said “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.”

I hope you grasp the importance of these simple, yet powerful tips.

1. Reflect and analyze on your last 30 days

It’s important to invest your past mistakes into your future intelligence. Regardless of your past decisions, you are always only one decision a way from the right decision. When you analyze why you are where you are, and dive into what crucial habits and thoughts are holding you back you can begin to design a compelling future. Don’t look for quick answers or simple solutions, and don’t be too tough on yourself. Fear and anxiety cause most to stay small, while making positive judgments makes us more confident. The best can negate the ego’s and push away anxieties. Don’t judge yourself, just analyze.

Related: How to Stick to Your New Year's Resolutions

2. Make a definite decision now

Make a concrete decision now that you are going to be the best person you possibly can for those around you. Make a concrete decision that you will make this the most productive month, regardless of your current circumstances, because how you treat this month determines next your momentum next month. Encourage those around you, make them feel good and treat everybody like they are the most important person in your life. Help others without expecting anything in return. Be the rock for the people you care about. This will mean the world to those around you, I promise.

3. Write everything down and prioritize

The best thing you can do when you want to clear your mind is write everything you are thinking down on paper. Get everything out of your head. Something happens when you write it down on paper and clear your mind. Once you write everything down, start to prioritize what really matters, what you can delegate, what things you can’t change and what to take action on right away. After you have everything organized, put everything important into your schedule. This will refocus your mind on what truly matters and, in turn, will start building momentum in the right direction.

4. Make a list of your top 10 goals for 2015

Sounds easy right? Success actually isn't too difficult, but sometimes what's easy to do is also easy not to do. Now, once written down, look at them daily. Trust me, the benefit of this is game changing! This will keep you on purpose and remind you why you are working so hard. You must have goals and dreams to pull you through your toughest challenges. Also, obsessive consistency sends a signal to your mind to focus and deliver serious results. Realize that nothing ever goes exactly as planned, so embrace uncertainty and chaos.

Related: Is Goal Setting Missing From Your Daily Routine? (Infographic)

5. Eat healthy daily and exercise 5 days a week

Appearance is the number-one cause of low self-esteem around the world. Improving your physical appearance will boost your confidence. You can’t separate your body from your mind. When you become physically healthier, then you will become mentally healthier. Fear is physical. When you’re in shape, it will become easier to face fears, focus and attack challenging issues that are thrown your way. Nothing tastes as good as health feels, and having the daily energy health brings you is priceless. Drink more water and eat for vitality and energy, not just immediate pleasure.

6. Learn to concentrate and focus

If you want to explode your productivity in the final days of 2014, you must learn how to focus on your most important tasks with no interference or distraction. Prioritize your activities based on importance and then get to work with complete concentration! If you don’t have a plan to interrupt interruptions, your plans will always be interrupted. Richard Branson says “Focus is more important than intelligence.” He is a high school drop out worth $4.6 billion and one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time. What areas of your life need more focus and clarity? Spend some time figuring that out before regret takes over.

We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons. -- Jim Rohn

You must create your best year ever. It won’t just show up. Combining these simple strategies will give you the ultimate competitive advantage going into 2015. I enthusiastically wish you an epic finish. Make it exceptional, because your friends and family need you operating at your absolute best.

Related: How to Stay Focused: Train Your Brain

 Peter Voogd

The 9 Things You Need to Know About Selling

If somebody told me years ago that a future generation of would-be entrepreneurs would learn how to sell from a bunch of writers, researchers, and consultants who’ve never sold a product or managed a sales force in their lives, I wouldn’t have believed it.

And while no article – or book, for that matter – can really teach you how to be a great salesperson, I can definitely share some interesting and counter-intuitive insights that took me a while to figure out, starting with the do's and dont's of delivering a sales pitch:

Selling is a marathon, not a sprint. Selling is a process – an often long and arduous one. The bigger the deal, the longer it takes and the more hoops you have to jump through. On the plus side, you’ll have more time to build a solid foundation for an enduring relationship. If you want to be the last one standing at the end, don’t push too hard in the beginning.

You’re always selling. Whether you’re pitching a new concept to investors, a potential partner to join you, or your board on a risky strategy, you’re more or less always selling something. And if you’re not aware of that, you’re not going to do the right thing to ensure your best chance of success. Truth is, even sales people spend more time selling their own company than their customers.

Make “yes” the logical and emotional choice. Selling is a skill set. Granted, a transaction does eventually take place, but the vast majority of the time, you’re cultivating a relationship, listening to determine your customer’s needs, or building a case for an investment of time and resources or a leap of faith. If you do it right, saying “yes” becomes the logical and emotional choice.

Be sure there’s a real opportunity. Cold calling isn’t synonymous with wasting your and everybody else’s time. Cold calling is when you believe there is a real opportunity and this is your first unsolicited contact with a company or individual. Once you’ve identified the right person and that there is at least a possible fit, then go for it. Otherwise, you’ll come across like a dummy, waste precious time, and maybe even burn bridges or harm your reputation.

Know whom you’re talking to. Try not to get too far along without knowing whom you’re meeting with, what their role is, what motivates them, and how to approach them. Do what you can to learn in advance what they’re doing and what they might be looking for. That way you can come up with a strategy that makes sense. There are ways to do that and adjust your plan on the fly, but that comes with experience.

Don’t try too hard to relate personally. This is probably the biggest mistake small business people make. Sure, you want to build a relationship, but if you try to get too personal too quick, you risk appearing too eager, invading their personal space, or turning the other person off. Instead, pay attention and react to their cues, tone, and body language.

Don’t show off how smart you are. I’ve been guilty of this myself, but not intentionally. Oftentimes, in a transparent attempt to relate and maybe indicate we know what others are talking about, we come off like know-it-alls who love to fill the air with the sound of our own voice. The truth is the customer doesn’t care one bit about what you know. He just wants to know if you’ve got a solution to his problem. So listen.

Give a little, get a little. Selling is a game of give and take. If you do it right, you give a little, get a little, and repeat the process over and over. For example, after providing a general outline of your product, you might ask them to tell you about their product or company so you can determine if there’s a fit. If, on the other hand, you spill your guts all at once and they say “not interested,” you’ve provided a ton of information, gotten nothing in return, and possibly missed an opportunity to offer a customized solution.

Never rehearse. There are several reasons for that, but the most important one is that it’s harder to think on your feet and adapt to new information. Instead, the rule you should always follow is to simply know your material cold, know as much about who you’re pitching as you can, come up with a reasonable plan, and then ask lots of questions, listen for answers, and adjust as needed. Trust your gut.
No matter what happens, remember this: You’ll make lots of mistakes but you’ll get better in time. Most people think I’m a natural-born salesperson, but nothing could be further from the truth. Just listen and learn … from the right people.

Great Article by Steve Tobak ( Tobak is managing partner of Invisor Consulting -- a Silicon Valley-based management and strategy consulting firm -- and a former senior executive of the technology industry.)