A surprising number of startup entrepreneurs have little clue as to why their targeted customers will buy or not buy their product or service. Even if your sales jump quickly out of the starting gate, with little buyer information to go on, your sales calls may soon go unreturned and you’ll be spending excessive time on bids and proposals that go nowhere.
Our sales training lesson here - some startups suffer from “Tortoise & Hare Syndrome” where sales start fast, but then the business owners get a little overconfident, thinking it will all be easy. All too soon, the sales effort starts to coast. That’s when the slow and steady tortoise (your competition) passes you snoozing on the sidelines.
To improve your sales efforts, focus on the key building blocks to sales success and improving your sales “personality.” Over time — even a small amount of time — little things you’ve done to disappoint customers can build up. Maybe it’s something you said, or didn’t say. Perhaps it’s a glitch in service that the customer never bothers to mention or a piece of information they’re missing or an appointment you had to cancel.
Whatever the reasons, the solution lies in acquiring the habits and attributes common to sales success.
Here are some of the specific steps your startup business can take to establish and maintain a strong sales personality.
- Ask before you act. Take more time to discover your customer’s needs, desires and expectations.
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