Opportunities

The home furnishings and home improvement industries have been drinking from a fire hose for the last year. Lots of showroom traffic consisting of people who have been staying home…and using their tired, broken, uncomfortable furniture much more than they used to. And they have been buying like crazy!

August traffic lessened a bit. Maybe vacations, maybe their houses are getting full, maybe they have COVID. Whatever the reason, less traffic didn’t necessarily equal less written business, as those…

I started this project about a month ago, although how much time it was going to take to complete the project remained an unspecified mystery. Since this was the first slipcover I ever made, I spent time researching HOW to do this so that the result would be respectable. The ticking stripe fabric was a couple of years old, because I originally thought I would have someone do the work for me. But the pandemic arrived and my travel schedule slowed…

Don’t be discouraged! This is just a lesson in prospecting and staying ahead of your sales pipeline. Stay active and continuously reach out to new prospects and past clients to keep your pipeline full and your team looking ahead.

Salespeople

Simply put, keep prospecting and don’t take it personally. If you lose more than 10%, you might want to explore further to discover why that is. However, if you ask for referrals, market cons…

19.    Retaining current customers is 6–7 cheaper than acquiring new ones

It’s not a new sales enablement statistic, but it’s just as true today as it was in the past. It’s cheaper to keep your current customers happy than to spend time finding new ones.

Salespeople

Is follow up a scheduled part of your weekly sales actions? Do you ask ‘What’s next?’ with each sales opportunity that closes? Like asking for referrals, staying connected with current clients is low hanging fruit (I dislike that phr…

Take the time to listen. Too many buyers complain that salespeople do not fully understand their needs and problems. You cannot sell a solution for a problem you don’t know about.

Salespeople

It is said “Customers don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” and listening deeply is a fundamental skill for every salesperson to take on as a process of continuous learning. Forever. Take it on as a practice, l…

A whopping 91 percent of customers say they would be willing to give referrals for companies and products they are happy with, but only 11 percent of salespeople ask for them!

Salespeople Yikes! These are crazy numbers! And yet, as I read them I know that AS a salesperson, this is my weakest area. Maybe it’s habit, maybe it’s discomfort asking for more than the sale that was just closed, maybe it’s a lack of skill or languag…

10. Mobile sales make up 30% of all US eCommerce

Making website material mobile-friendly and having trained salespeople ready for web sales is crucial to your bottom line. If you’re not keeping up with the mobile and tablet movement, you will be left behind.

Salespeople

Consider getting a second line on your phone so that your customers can call you, or become facile with your tablet so that you can use it for sketching, web searching your competition, scheduling appointments, etc. If you aren’…

Customers who contact you via your website expect a quick response. Leads and questions that come through your site need to trigger a response instantly within your sales team.

Salespeople This role isn’t a fit for EVERY salesperson. They need to be skilled in technology, persistent in their communication and closely tied to the marketing department so that they can participate in creating responses that are…

Communication between sales and marketing is so important—it’s a main component of sales enablement. Marketing templates and documents need to be easily accessible and customizable.

Salespeople  I listen to salespeople who regularly show their resistance to ongoing communication with prospects and clients as “What am I going to say or send them? The marketing department manages email blasts….” In a time when retail showrooms need to…