Sales Tips to Revitalize and Strengthen Your Business

You’re already providing valuable goods or services to your existing customers, but if you want to expand your client list, you’re going to have to ensure other people know about your company. That means incorporating sales tips into your business strategy. If you’re looking for sales tips, we have an extensive list of ideas for you. There is a wide range of sales tips included in this article, so you’re sure to find something applicable to you. No matter what type of business you’re in, these sales tips to revitalize and strengthen your company can help you and your business thrive. 

Best Sales Tips and Tricks

It can be challenging to wade through all of the sales advice published online and in marketing literature. There is a lot of content available, but you don’t want to read all of it. You don’t want to gamble with your company by trying all of it. Instead, you only want the top sales tips out there. Luckily, we have collected all of that information for you right here in this article.

We’re going to cover the best phone sales tips, sales tips that will help you close deals, sales tips that will help you with door to door sales, retail sales tips, direct sales tips, and sales tips for B2B, or business-to-business sales. These strategies go beyond sales tips of the day and little suggestions you can incorporate into your daily activities. They’re real, date-driven, well-researched, and intended to help you succeed. To learn more, all you need to do is keep reading. 

Phone Sales Tips

It’s increasingly common for sales to be conducted without a face-to-face meeting ever happening. Phone sales are becoming less common too. However, a phone conversation with a customer is a great way to show your passion and credibility. There is only so much information you can include on your website or in your email signature. Phone calls also add a personal touch to your relationships with your customers. 

Your clients want to feel like they matter to you and that you’re invested in their success. While you are, it can be difficult to show that interest through emails. Phone conversations are the perfect balance between impersonal emails and tedious, time-consuming video calls. Phone technology is also incredibly reliable, which is not always the case with video calls.

 In general, we recommend recording the number of calls you make and your success rate. With that data, you can identify your top performers, as well as anyone who needs extra training or support to make successful calls. You can even isolate the days of the week or the times of day where successful calls are most likely to occur. Focusing your energy on your most productive periods allows you to increase your sales efficiency. 

Sales Call Tips

With a sales call, you’re contacting someone already interested in your product or aware of your company. That makes it easier than cold calling, which is covered in the next section, but that doesn’t mean it’s a simple process. You’re still trying to convince someone to spend their hard-earned money, and people tend to be resistant to that. 

For a sales call, the best thing you can do to increase your odds of success is to understand and apply rhetoric. There are three distinct rhetorical appeals. These are ethos, pathos, and logos. If that sounds like Greek to you, you’d be right. The words are Greek, and we have Aristotle to thank for them.  

Ethos

Ethos refers to credibility. When you appeal to ethos during a sales call, you’re pointing toward the reasons your company and product are trustworthy. Maybe your company has been in business for nearly a hundred years. Perhaps the combined experience of your employees is staggering. Your product might be a bestseller, innovative, patented, or any number of other words. Find what fits, and use it to espouse what makes your company different. Always highlight the positive aspects of your company rather than the faults of your competitors. 

Pathos

Pathos appeals to the emotions of your potential customers. When you read that, you might picture commercials featuring tragic-looking children or animals with sad music playing in the background. Emotional appeals like those commercials feel more like they’re stomping on your heartstrings, not tugging on them. It’s best to avoid doing that when you’re selling something. Most people don’t feel sympathy for companies, and they won’t react well if you try to guilt-trip them. Instead, tell your potential customers what you can do for them. Will your product save them time or effort? Allow them to spend more time with their families or make their employees happier? Will it make their dreams come true? If so, use that.

Logos

Logos is the rhetorical appeal that relates to logic. For a sales call, most of the logos you will be using will relate to the finances of your potential customers. Frame it as simple cause and effect. If A, then B. If they buy your product, then they will save money. If they buy your product, then they will experience X return on their investment. Logos can be incredibly powerful in business situations. 

Different people react to different rhetorical appeals. Do your market research before making a call, and try to find a balance between ethos, pathos, and logos. They’re all involved when people make decisions. 

Cold Calling Sales Tips

Cold calling might be the most difficult way of making a sale. Essentially, you’re interrupting someone’s day and attempting to convince them to buy something, either immediately or at a later date. Since it’s a cold call, it might not even be something they’ve considered purchasing before. Cold calling sales tips are essential. 

Your salespeople are one of your greatest assets, but they might only do cold calls grudgingly. To avoid bad attitudes and increase both enthusiasm and motivation, turn cold calling into a game. Keep track of who makes the most calls, who has the highest success rate, and any other factors that interest you. At the end of the week, month, or quarter, reward the top employee. Gift cards are a popular choice. Gamifying your cold calls has the added benefit of avoiding any resentment over numbers being tracked. Recording data is important for your company’s future, but to individuals, it can feel like micromanagement if it’s mishandled. 

Don’t be discouraged if potential customers hang up frequently or are reluctant to make a purchase. Even if a cold call isn’t successful, you have still reached out to a potential customer. Now, they’re aware of your company, and you’re only a quick internet search away. 

Best Cold Calling Sales Tips

Because cold calling is a frustrating endeavor with a low success rate, you need to know what you’re doing to make it worthwhile. According to Forbes, only 28 percent of cold calls result in a conversation and just 2 percent are successful. Those numbers aren’t inspiring, which is why implementing the best cold calling sales tips is vital. 

The most important thing you can do is to keep someone on the line. That usually means making sure you don’t sound like you’re selling something, at least right away. 

“Hi, I’m [name] with—”

Click.

Does that sound familiar? If so, try using a different tone of voice. You should still sound professional, but people notice when you use what’s informally known as a customer service voice with them. They don’t always appreciate it. 

Changing the first sentence you say can be helpful too. It doesn’t have to be anything unusual or funny, just enough to differentiate you from everyone else who has been calling. You catch the attention of potential customers when you say something they’re not expecting. Once you have their attention, then you can start applying the rhetoric discussed earlier. 

Closing Sales Tips

All of the sales tips in the world won’t help you if you falter when closing a sale. Closing might not be the most important part of making a sale—it’s nearly impossible to isolate parts of a process when they’re so interconnected—but it’s certainly your end goal. Ideally, you will have convinced your potential customer to buy after your email exchange, phone call, or conversation. However, sometimes people need more encouragement. If you’re approaching the end of an interaction with a potential customer and they still seem reluctant, there are a few things you can try. 

People love a deal. If it seems like you’re going to lose someone before they make a purchase, set up a policy so you or your salespeople can offer them an exclusive, one-time deal. If they agree to the deal, you’re still making money, and they’re left feeling like they’ve gotten away with something. 

We also recommend asking someone who seems like they might be about to leave what you and your product can do for them, or what’s stopping them from making a purchase immediately. Depending on what they say, you may be able to assuage any fears or explain why the purchase is worth it.

Door-to-Door Sales Tips

Yes, you read that right. Door-to-door sales still happen, and they can be hugely beneficial to your business if you know how to take advantage of them. If possible, it can be even more discouraging than cold calling. If your business is attempting to sell your products door-to-door, you need the right people in the role. Your door-to-door salespeople need to be friendly, confident, and excellent verbal communicators. They also have to be adept at reading body language and interpreting social cues. They need to be okay with failing too. A lot. 

Make sure your salespeople have the right skills, and also that they know when to give up. That likely sounds counterintuitive. However, most people are too polite to tell a stranger to leave or that they’re not interested. They nod along, listen to the entire pitch, and then they say the m-word. Maybe. It’s out of politeness, but in the end, they’re just stringing you along and wasting your time. They don’t intend to buy anything. That’s why knowing when to give up is important; you can spend more time talking to people who might actually be interested. 

Retail Sales Tips

When you have customers coming into a physical store, a lot of your work has already been done for you. The same goes for online shopping. The only difficulty is in getting customers to your store or site. In both cases, search engine optimization (SEO) is your new best friend. It allows you to design your website and content in a way that makes it more likely you’ll show up on search engine results pages. Because so many people rely on the internet to find products and services, SEO is invaluable.

Being aware of how your products are displayed is the other essential retail sales tip. Make sure your website looks clean and that it’s easy to navigate. Your physical location should be the same. Keep it neat and organized. Look into the psychology of color. Yes, really. You will be amazed at what a difference aesthetics can make. 

Direct Sales Tips

Direct selling means cutting out the middleman, usually a company that would otherwise be involved. Individuals sell products directly to other individuals. While doing so can save money, it can also complicate matters. The middleman isn’t just there to raise the price of a product. They facilitate a variety of factors, including marketing and delivery. If you’re focusing on direct selling, you need to understand the supply chain you’re avoiding. By doing so, you’ll be able to successfully act as your own intermediary. 

B2B Sales Tips

B2B sales aren’t as complicated as they might sound. As long as you understand the businesses your business is attempting to sell to, you’ll be fine. Do the necessary market research. Determine what businesses fit the profile of your ideal customer. Understand what would lead them to purchase something from your company, and then start marketing or otherwise reaching out to them. Make it happen. 

Final Thoughts on Sales Tips for Success

The sales tips listed above are only a small selection of what you can find online. However, we believe these sales tips are a solid foundation to help you improve your selling skills. If you want more information about any of the sales tips listed in this article, you can book a call with Wizard of Sales today. Wizard of Sales offers services relating to sales training, advertising, media buying, and copywriting for a well-rounded, comprehensive sales strategy.