How to orchestrate a successful third quarter – The Sales Snap Blog
While success in Q3 is largely determined by activity in Q2, there are still some things you can do right now to boost your sales results this Quarter.
Daily prospecting is key
To see meaningful results your sales team should be prospecting daily, for a minimum 3-4 hours each session (1 hour is just not long enough to build sufficient momentum or results in most cases). If your sales professionals are struggling to dedicate the time to this activity, or if other demands of their role are proving too great to commit focused time, then it’s time to either hire a dedicated resource to do this for them, or to engage an expert agency who can start delivering quality leads quickly.
Set activity based goals for your team
Sales activity drives results, so you need to make sure things keep moving by continually monitoring activity. A good place to start is with the metrics of your existing sales funnel and setting key performance indicators (KPIs) based on these numbers.
For example, your sales process might be neatly divided into 3 stages: leads received, proposals issued, sales made, but if there are valuable intermediate steps, add these in to give a fuller picture. In this example, if you know that on average 15 leads typically result in 8 proposals which delivers 1 new sale, you can use these ratios to determine the number of leads required to provide enough proposals to be issued for your sales team to hit their quarterly sales goal.
Monitor the activity and ensure that the team are hitting or exceeding each target (leads generated and proposals issued in this example) every week. If their activity is not delivering the expected outcomes (sales made – allowing for time for prospects to go through your normal sales cycle), revise the activity numbers upwards and take a close look at any processes that could be holding your team back.
Multichannel broadens your horizons
Don’t limit your potential and your sales opportunities by relying on just one or two channels. A successful strategy includes multiple sales channels and gives you a greater chance of success. It also helps you home in on what really works for your product/service and business. Spread your efforts across multiple channels such as online lead generation, referrals, outbound calls, networking events, dormant account reactivation, partnerships and so on.
Don’t forget your sales cycle
It might sound obvious but if you have a 6-month cycle from first meeting to a closed sale, then it’s unlikely that today’s activity will yield many sales in this financial year.
If this sounds like your business, here are four strategies that have delivered quicker results for our clients:
1. Revisit the existing prospects in your CRM
While not every lead that makes it to your CRM may be a great one, it’s still highly likely that you’ll have some great contacts that have never bought from you. Call them to re-engage and see whether they have a current need for your products/services and solutions. Be sure to follow up with engaging nurture content.
2. They’re only sleeping
Dormant accounts are those clients who’ve bought from you in the past but are not buying currently. Often nothing went awry, they just need a bit of attention and nurturing. Call them to re-engage and bring them back on board.
3. Upsell existing clients
It’s much easier to sell services to those who already enjoy doing business with you. Do you have an add-on product or service that some or all of your clients could really see a benefit from? Bear in mind, a $50/month upsell to 100 clients may only look like $5,000 in extra revenue, but it will add $60,000 in revenue per year.
4. Leverage partnerships
If you have a partnership model, some of these partners may have relationships with your competitors too. Contact them and remind them of your products and services. You may find that the biggest sales opportunities sit with the partners who are generating the least revenue for you right now. Points 1,2 and 3 above can also apply to your Partners. If you don’t ask, you’ll never know!
Do you need help keeping momentum high in Q3?
You’ve come to the right place! We’re seeing really great results right now and we are building our clients’ pipelines for a healthy end of year. If you would like help implementing a strategy that will set you up for success, get in touch. Our expert team have years of experience across a broad range of industries (including finance, construction, recruitment, logistics, insurance and software), and will be able to help you reach your business and sales goals. Call: 1300 396 888 or contact us today.
