3 Simple Habits That Will Increase Your Sales

There’s really nothing magic about selling. What they say about what we learn in kindergarten applies to sales as it does in life. Still, I see many salespeople who will consistently lose sales for the simplest of reasons.

#1 – Listening skills

We can go on and on about this but, here are three of the easiest mistakes to correct …

Clarify and Confirm – How often have you asked someone a question and received a great answer except for the fact that … the answer did not apply to your question? It happens to me a lot! Your first step is to clarify … “I want to make sure that I understand your question. Is it ….?” Then, after you answer the question, you confirm … “Did I answer your question?”

Read emails completely – We are all rushed these days and often we receive emails that contain multiple questions. I see these and I send them. Better than 50% of the time I see emails return that not only don’t answer the questions correctly, they don’t even address some of the questions that have been posed. Of course, this results in follow-up emails that take more time and create more confusion.[Tweet “Simple habits that will increase your sales!”]

Turn off your bloody phones in meetings – Better yet, stick it in your briefcase where you won’t even feel it vibrating! How can you listen to my questions, evaluate my body language, or focus on anything else that we are doing when you are chatting on Facebook?

If you can listen, I’ll probably buy. If you can’t, I won’t. I also won’t refer you to others because there is nothing that would lead me to believe that your behavior would be any different with them. Simple.

#2 – Be responsive

If I have to check back with you regarding the status of whatever it is that we are working on, you have not done your job. You have either not set my expectations correctly, failed to meet your own commitments, or both. Either way, you lose. While I am waiting on you, I’m calling your competitors. Simple.

#3 – Present in person

Whenever possible, present your proposal in person. Now, if you are selling someone a pack of gum, of course, that would not make sense. I’m talking about more complex sales involving several of thousands of dollars or more. If geography is an issue, put technology like Skype to work for you. Let me give you an example.

My wife and I are in the process of buying new windows for our home. The only thing we know about windows is that they have glass in them and that they open up to let air in. Based on recommendations from others, we have solicited four quotes.

Of the four, only one salesperson delivered his quote in person. Two sent us an email proposal without so much as a cover letter or any marketing materials and one vendor did not even get back with us (this is a great story that I will share at another time!).

We have received the usual follow-up phone calls … “Are you ready to buy?” but, not one person has asked us if we have any questions. I’m looking at these quotes and they read like a periodic table from a high school chemistry class. The only thing I really understand is the price. So, the other part of this is … If you are going to compete for $10,000 of my money, at least give it your best shot! Simple.

There you go!! Three simple habits that will substantially increase your sales. Do you have any that you might add to this list?

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Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!