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| Andy Preston |
In the second part of this article, telecoms sales expert, Andy Preston, gives three more points on how to beat your competitors in 2011
Whenever I’m talking to salespeople or business owners, a question I’m often asked is: “Andy, how can I ensure I stay ahead of my competitors?” So here are a few things that you can implement to ensure that you stay ahead of your competition for 2011 and beyond.
Plan your attack
One of the best ways to get ahead of the competition in 2011 is to win some customers off them. This is a great way of distracting them from their own new business efforts, plus it’s a great motivational factor for you and your team when you successfully win business at your competitor’s expense.
In order to have the best chance of success, if you’re in field sales why not map out competitors accounts in your territory? Then create a call plan for getting into see them, and then focus on winning their business.
If you’re in internal sales, make notes on the prospects that are currently using your competition, then filter the data by competitors name. Then you can create a phone campaign designed specifically to convert their customers to your customers instead.
Experience shows that dedicated and focused approaches like those above have a far better chance of success, and also put a big dent in your competitor’s motivation at the same time.
Develop consistent motivation
We all know that motivation is important for a salesperson. But it’s the salesperson’s ability to be consistently motivated that will help them stand out from the rest, and stay ahead of their competition in 2011.
This is something I talk about a lot when I’m working to improve motivation levels within a sales team. In order to be motivated on a consistent basis, the salesperson has to take charge of their own motivation, rather than waiting for other people to motivate or de-motivate them.
They need to have compelling reasons for doing what they do. In particular the tougher parts of their role, like cold calling, canvassing, or the things they like doing the least! Without a compelling reason, they’re less likely to get the results they need.
Sharpen your sales skills
If you truly want to stay ahead of your competition in 2011, you’ll need to sharpen your sales skills. This means getting up to date, relevant sales tips and advice from trusted sources.
If you get some internal training at your company, great! If your company invests in bringing an external trainer or motivator to help you improve, even better. If you’re one of those people that believes in investing in yourself, I take my hat off to you.
However, you don’t have to spend money to keep your sales skills updated, plenty of articles like this one are free of charge, there are various audios around that are free or low cost, and there are plenty of seminars you can attend without spending a fortune.
Just make sure you put into practice what you learn, and I look forward to hearing how you’re staying ahead of your competition in 2011!
Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on…
Andy Preston is a recognised sales expert who specialises in working with mobile phone companies in particular, helping them generate more appointments, stand out from the competition, and close more deals. You can see and hear more about Andy at http://www.andy-preston.com/.