Sales Psychology & Performance

Everyone has days when they feel on top of their game, not only in recruitment. A good day in the office for me includes a high volume of outputs, effective conversations, opening new clients and closing deals.

How can the next day be so different? Maybe you didn’t want to get out of bed and are counting down the hours until you get to go home.

41% of customers are loyal to a brand or company because they consistently notice a positive employee attitude.

It is important you maintain motivation, even on a day when things are not going as planned.

The first thing you have to do is take control: recognise you are in control of your own emotions and determine what can be done to get you in the right frame of mind. For some people this might be reminding yourself what you are trying to achieve, whether it be a personal or professional goal. For others it may be standing up and taking a walk around, or setting some simple achievable targets for the day.

Most people who fail, fail because they blame other people and other circumstances. What this does is inhibits you from reviewing the situation, identifying the lesson to be taken away and improving to make the process more effective next time. If you are struggling, ask a neutral outsider to help you evaluate and set some tangible targets.

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To be successful in any competitive environment, you need to have absolute belief in yourself, your product, your services and your solutions. If you do not genuinely believe in the product you are selling and your ability to add value to a prospective client’s business, why would they believe you?

In a competitive market place there will always be businesses that are offering lower prices just to secure the deal, but as with anything if you pay low prices you get low quality. In this situation, what we offer is knowledge, expertise, quality and value, and this is what fundamentally underpins the belief that we are worth the money.

68% of consumers feel more positive about a brand after they have viewed content from it.

Any business, including ours, can continually add value and prove expertise by producing industry focussed content in the form of newsletters and blogs, establishing a reputation as a trustworthy source of relevant information.

Referrals are an excellent resource to show new contacts how you can add value to their business, with 84% of B2B decision makers starting the process with a referral.

83% of clients are happy to give a referral after a positive experience, but only 11% of vendors ask for them.

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50% of sales time is wasted on unproductive prospecting.

You have to know who is a perfect client for you, where you can add value, how you can add value, and when to say no if a relationships will not be a mutually beneficial exchange.

When approaching new businesses there is always going to be a good and bad time to call, but the bottom line is we have to be consistent in our approach to generate new business and build a commercial pipeline.

On average, it takes 8 attempts to reach a new client. 44% of people give up after just one follow up.

It is challenging to gain the respect of a new contact, particularly over the phone when so much is lost in the lack of body language and eye contact. It is essential to position yourself as a specialist and an expert at what you do, to engage a new client, ask the right questions and deliver value.

The first 10 seconds determine the response to your call, so you have to make a connection. Confident delivery is key, but where most people go wrong is asking ‘what should I get out of this’, when what you need to be asking is ‘what does the client need to hear, what is bothering them, what are my solutions?’

Only 2% of sales calls result in new business.

If you do not get the response you want, do not see this as a loss. Instead, ask yourself what you learned and what improvements you can make for next time.

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There is a lot of debate about whether cold calling works or not, and as a sole resource the answer is no. But as part of an effective business development strategy it enables you to build a pipeline of work and continual influx of new business.

Cold calling is an immediate, personalised notification to clients that you can offer assistance and solutions, and identifies new business opportunities and leads.

To be successful staff must be trained effectively to understand their sector, be absolutely confident in their business’ solutions, have total belief in their own abilities, and recognise there is no negative outcome, only lessons to be learned and opportunities to be conquered.

Shaunagh Durkin, Consultant, Foundation Recruitment