How To Avoid The Biggest Mistake You Can Make In Sales - Increase Sales

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in sales is losing your momentum. You make a big push to get a bunch of appointments then you get busy holding those appointments and taking care of the new business. The whole time you’re focused on working through these new prospects you aren’t doing anything to keep your sales funnel full, so when you’ve held your last appointments your business comes to a screeching halt. nnThis start and stop approach also leads to feast and famine in your bank account. Once you lose your momentum it’s very hard to regain it. That’s why it’s so important for you to take one or more actions each day that make new deposits in your prospecting funnel.nnUnfortunately, many professionals in service industries try a one-step approach in prospecting. A one-step approach will get you a few prospects who happen to be ready buyers at the moment you reach out to them. However, you miss the opportunity to make a connection and develop a relationship with the bulk of the people you contact allowing you to extend your relationship before you ask for an appointment. Bad idea. Bad approach.nnTime is another enemy in your sales momentum. Once you make the initial connection don’t allow a time lag to throw away the opportunity. As you plan your multi-step approach to prospecting make sure you’re consistent in your message and consistent in your frequency. Then when it’s time in the sequence for you to call them do so within 72 hours of that last connection.nnYou can’t increase sales by doing things that don’t work. Yet; I see sales professionals wasting valuable time, energy, and dollars on activities and marketing ideas that don’t work nor have they ever worked. Your prospecting efforts must pay for themselves, and they must pay for themselves immediately. Anything you do to attract prospects that doesn’t produce immediate results needs an immediate course correction.nnFinally, you’re existing client base is a prime source for sustainable momentum. To reap the rewards of this resource you must make the experience of working with you memorable, valuable to the prospect, and sharable. This doesn’t require complex or expensive actions on your part. It does require that you act as their trusted adviser putting their interests first, demonstrating they’re important to you, and offering opportunities where they’ll want to tell others about you. n