Secrets to Getting Consistent Sales For Your Startup

No matter what industry you’re in, sales is your oxygen.  Without consistent sales, most startups simply can’t function. Unfortunately most startup companies don’t invest enough in their sales process until it’s too late. Here are the strategies successful startups have adopted to consistently meet their sales goals.

Building a Stronger Network

Consistent sales doesn’t happen automatically.  For larger accounts, it’s often best to start with referrals and be introduced organically to your prospect instead of cold calling.  And having a well connected network of friends and peers willing to help support you is the key to getting more organic referrals.  Meeting someone and getting their business card is easy. Maintaining your relationship and keeping yourself relevant is the real challenge. If you’re not already using LinkedIn, now’s a good time to start.

Focusing on Weekly Results

Without setting weekly goals, your team may believe staying busy and filling their calendar translates to sales success. Unfortunately activity doesn’t convert into sales unless it’s focused. Get into the habit of setting achievable weekly goals for your team. Weekly goals provide your team a compass to follow and keeps their attention laser focused on just a few important items. Try to make your goals specific, realistic, and achievable. Ambitious vague goals are often demoralizing instead of empowering.

Do The Unnatural/Uncomfortable

It’s our natural tendency to avoiding people and things that make us uncomfortable. Success is usually found outside our comfort zone, not within it’s confined walls. Having the courage to withstand natural discomfort will allow your team to reach more daring goals and achieve results outside their normal capabilities. Get your team into the habit of doing ONE thing each day that they’re normally uncomfortable with.  Just make sure they’re staying well within the confines of your state and federal laws.

Under-promise Over Deliver

No one likes to be lied to.  And no one likes to be promised something and have it delivered sub-par.  It’s often easy to over promise a customer just to get the sales in and be overly enthusiastic about it.  Be honest with your customer and lay out all the unknowns and what they’re REALLY going to get.  They will trust you more and can feel your sincerity.  Now after that’s done, make sure your team over deliver.  Your client will be 10x happier and be more likely to refer you.

Ask Directly

Ask your client “Are you ready to begin today?  I can have the paperwork ready in 30 mins”.  Don’t be shy or give your client too much time to think over everything.  It may be uncomfortable at first, but asking directly can help you seal the majority of deals that otherwise would’ve been lost. Even the most secure and sure deals can often fall in between the cracks if we missed the opportunity to strike while the iron is hot.

Any startup can learn and adopt many of the strategies above. Despite their simplicity and low financial investment, the strategies above have only yielded success when they’re consistently followed and built into the work culture. As with any sales or marketing strategies, consistency is key to achieving desirable results.