6 Simple Sales Best Practices for Small Sales Teams
1. Know Where to Look
Good sales people can pitch, nurture and close. Great sales people know where to find the opportunities to pitch, nurture and close. This is everything in sales. If you don’t know where to find new business, you can’t grow.
2. Show Up
Sales itself is not hard. You listen, respond and apply your best efforts to delight the customer every chance you get. Make sure you get that chance. When customers are looking for your services, the one who gets the business is typically the one who’s in front of them at the time of purchase. Use content management systems to build rapport, establish trust, and stay top-of-mind (Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho).
3. Get There Early
Although it may sound cliché, the early bird really does get the worm. If you are an early contender, you have the best chance of winning the business. When the market is not yet penetrated, you have the opportunity to be seen in a whole new spotlight and build long-term relationships that will positively impact your bottom line. No matter how small your company is, first mover advantage gives you a better opportunity to control the value proposition narrative.
4. Make the First Move
When you are there early, you also have the first mover advantage to teach the customer how to engage. This might be new territory for them as a buyer, so you are setting the standard and giving them the best example of how your industry or organization operates. The first Immutable Law of Marketing, from the book by Al Ries and Jack Trout, is the “Law of Leadership.” In short, write Ries and Trout, “It’s better to be first than it is to be better.”
5. Just Be Yourself
By being yourself, you have the exact same leverage as a larger company. You might be a small business, but your services are a big deal to a potential buyer, especially when you can compete on a level playing field. Know why you are different. Pricing and good customer service does not make you different. Be sure to communicate features and/or benefits of a product, or aspects of a brand, that set it apart from competing products or brands.
6. Stick With It
How long have you been showing up? It’s brilliantly simple and it’s something everyone can do, but not everyone does. You can easily beat a lot of your competition just by outlasting them. Be in place, on time, and prepared for the opportunity when it presents itself. By doing this consistently, year after year, you will see much of your competition fall by the wayside.
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