The secret to closing more sale

Researchers for the Behavioral Sciences Research Press studied sales production for more than 25 years. Their work revealed that most successful salespeople share one characteristic: They contact more prospective buyers then less successful salespeople do. The study proves that:

• You can't expect tomorrow's sales from today's customers. An American Management Association study shows that only 65% of customers buy every year where they bought the year before. That means 35% of your customers leave you for one reason or another. So you have to create enough new business to replace that lost business—before you're even back to your starting point.
• Sales come from three sources. You can fill repeat orders from existing customers, you can sell new items to them or you can make new sales to new customers. That's it. Even if your closing ratio with new prospects is 90%—a great percentage—you're not closing every one. So if you want to close more sales, you need to start making more calls.
• You have more opportunities than you think. A sales trainer asked a manager what he hoped his sales force would gain from training. The manager responded: "I hope that when they're driving down the road and see a smokestack, they say to themselves: 'I wonder what they make there. I wonder if they could use our chemicals.'" That manager wanted his salespeople to learn to dig deep and be creative. Bottom line: Look beyond your traditional customers. You may discover new business.
• Sales is still a numbers game. Don't be surprised if management expects you to produce more with less. Few salespeople get big promotion budgets or new products to help them meet their goals. Depend on your own effort and activities to increase sales volume. Maybe you'll need to target 24 competitive accounts this year instead of 18, solicit five referrals a month instead of three, make 10 cold calls a week instead of five or speak at six industry events instead of four.

Remember: The key to success is doing what you need to do, when you need to do it, whether you want to or not. To achieve your sales goals, you need to contact more prospects.