6 Unique Sales Tactics Your Team Needs to Try

1. Let the Prospect Do the Legwork #

Salespeople love to get in front of prospects as quickly as possible to start conversations. However, modern buyers don’t want to talk to reps until they’re almost ready to buy. Rather than push the issue, sales teams should spend less time convincing top-of-funnel prospects to consider and devote more time to having in-depth conversations with prospects who already understand the value of the service.

Sure, some of those end-of-funnel conversations take longer. Progress can feel agonizingly slow, especially when leads are so close to conversion. However, by focusing more on those conversations and letting less qualified leads filter themselves out, sales teams can increase the conversion rates of the leads with the best chances of becoming long-term customers.

2. Record Yourself to Catch Bad Habits #

Professional musicians record themselves practicing to get better. The world’s top athletes do the same. Why, then, do salespeople frequently fail to use one of the most effective practice tools to get better at talking (and listening) to prospects and refining their sales tactics?

Have sales team members record themselves when they speak to potential customers. Help them identify times when they lose sight of good sales practices and fall into bad habits. People typically don’t remember exactly how conversations play out. But when they are able to follow the action in vivid detail, they can identify when they jumped to a closing proposition too early or lost sight of the goal of helping the prospect make the best decision.

3. Treat Deadlines as Absolute Law #

Prospects usually don’t talk to many people within the company. You might know that other departments are responsible for delays, but your prospective customers don’t. To close more deals, your team must own more of the process.

This is counter to the advice that salespeople should spend less time on anything that isn’t sales. But by facilitating faster fulfillment, your team can dramatically increase their close rate. Teach salespeople to follow up on every stage of the deal so they can handle issues as soon as they arise.

Sales tactics work best when they’re backed by best practices. Learn how to craft the perfect follow-up email using the approach outlined in this post.

Also, create communication processes between departments to keep sales teams in the loop. When prospects call and want to know what’s going on, salespeople should be able to provide that information quickly.

4. Turn Down More Prospects #

Research from Marc Wayshak found that most initial prospects ultimately don’t make sense for the company. So, instead of selling to anyone who wants to buy, be pickier about who gets to buy. You might lose a few deals, but more importantly, you’ll increase your customer satisfaction rate when fewer bad matches buy your product or service.

Salespeople hate to lose commissions, so consider ways to reward your team using other metrics. Offer bounties to the people with the highest post-purchase satisfaction scores. Create a culture in which making the right sale is psychologically more important than making the immediate sale.

5. Limit the Options #

People love personalization. And choice is nice, but it can be overwhelming, too. As you research your prospects, figure out which aspects of your product or service are best for your target audience, then limit your presentations and discussions to those options.

Don’t let choice overload drive customers to a competitor with a more streamlined buying cycle. You might be proud of all your products and options, but customers can only handle so much information at once.

6. Ask Outright for Referrals #

For whatever reason, salespeople rarely ask for referrals. So, we’ll round out our core list of six unique sales tactics with this advice: Teach your team to get over their fear of looking needy and start taking advantage of referrals, which can be powerful tools for surfacing and making connections to potential customers.

Don’t limit referral requests to post-purchase surveys, either. When sales team members call up new customers, encourage them to ask for referrals right then, at that moment. Also, follow up on referral requests like you would follow up on pending deals.

Even when someone doesn’t close, don’t let that connection fade away. Instead, thank prospects for their time, and ask if they know anyone else who might benefit from the product or service you’re offering. Most people won’t have anyone in mind, but the few who do could make some highly valuable introductions.

Two Bonus Sales Tactics to Consider #

Here are two additional sales tactics that could help make a significant difference in your team’s sales effectiveness, especially in the current environment:

• Use data points to underscore value and highlight ROI. More CXOs are attending sales meetings, according to our analysis of hundreds of thousands of sales meetings across industries over the past year. To sell to the C-suite, you and your team will need to line up all your data points to explain the economic impact of their buying decision and the expected ROI. In fact, don’t be surprised if you need to present this type of data to CXOs in your first sales meeting. (For more tips on selling to the C-suite, download our free ebook.)

Be more strategic when responding to initial inquiries. We’ve heard from companies that we work with that it pays to shake up the traditional sales process at times — especially when there’s potential for a sizable deal and a VP or SVP is the one reaching out initially. In those situations, consider bringing in someone at the executive level on the sales side to respond, make introductions, and move the process forward. This is also a great way to set up the executive alignment you might need to rely on later to help close the deal.

As the war to differentiate your sales pitches becomes tougher, don’t rely on outdated or unproven sales tactics to win your battles. Think beyond the usual, and start leaning on techniques that lead to more connections, more sales, and more long-term success.