Mark Hunter's Blog, page 17
November 16, 2022
10 Prospecting Hacks for November and December
Putting in the effort now boosts your fourth quarter, while simultaneously setting up the new year for success.
Let’s walk through 10 strategies and approaches that you can use to prospect during Q4.
1. Thanksgiving weekBelieve it or not, it’s a great week to prospect. Why? Because so many people are on a different schedule. There are a lot of people off. I get it. That means meetings that normally occur don’t happen. So I can make phone calls on Thanksgiving week and I can have conversations with people that I don’t normally have the ability to reach. They answer the phone because they’re willing to talk, willing to have a conversation.
This is especially true for higher up people that you don’t normally have a chance to reach.
via Paramount+ on GIPHY2. Holiday hours
If you are in any kind of a business that’s a supply business, you can call a prospect and say, “Hey, I want to let you be aware that we’re going to be open X day, X time.”
You communicate with prospects because they may be buying from a different supplier (and they’re going to be closed!) Cha-ching. It’s an easy way for you to pick up additional business.
3. Thank you callsYou may send out holiday cards, you may send out Christmas gifts, whatever it is. But what I love doing is picking up the phone and calling people and saying thank you. I do this with existing customers, people who perhaps used to do business with me or people I just know.
It creates conversation, and from that–opportunities. Prospecting is all about creating opportunities!
via The Office on GIPHY4. The personal touch
Let’s say you see somebody make a comment somewhere, perhaps Linkedin. Well, you add a personal touch, you add a personal comment back.
People’s mindsets shift during November and December and they’re far more open to personal conversations. Take advantage of it.
5. December holidays.Read more about How Prospecting Looks Different in Q4
The last two weeks of the year are always weird. This year for instance, Christmas and New Year’s each fall on a Sunday. So the holidays are going to bleed into Mondays. It’s going to mean a lot of disrupted weeks.
Just like Thanksgiving week, it’s an excellent time to be making calls. Yes, a lot of people are out, but there will be people you do get a hold of. What a way to jumpstart the first quarter! While most people are just starting to get going, you’ve already got meetings on the calendar.
What you missed on Monday:Prospecting v.s. Selling…Do You Know the Difference?
Make sure you’re not focused on selling when you should be prospecting. Which activities define each one? …Find this episode of The Sales Hunter Podcast wherever you stream.
New episodes every Monday and Thursday!
6. Speed meetingsQ4 is not the time to say, “Hey, what’s your calendar look like a couple weeks from now?” Speed meetings are, “Hey, have you got 15 minutes tomorrow?”
Think 15 minutes this afternoon, or 20 minutes now.
What you don’t want them to say is, “Why don’t we just touch base after the first year.”
7. Reach out to old customersOld customers may be buying from somebody else and then suddenly they need you. Yes, even that is prospecting because I’m creating opportunities!
You won’t know unless you contact them.
via Saturday Night Live on GIPHY8. Lost deals
You may have had an unbelievable opportunity in the first quarter that you didn’t get, and went to somebody else. Call that customer up. “Hey, how’s that working out for you? I want to find out because we are here to help you.”
It’s amazing how much business you can pick up which isn’t involved in that other contract.
9. Lost customersRead more about How to Keep Your Year-End Sales Simple
They left you because they weren’t happy. Don’t think for a moment that you can’t reach back out to them. In fact, you need to, because the end of the year is the best time of year.
People begin to evaluate. Imagine hearing, “Yeah, you’re right. We left you guys. We weren’t happy with you, but we went over here. You know what? They’re not any good at all. We need to talk.”
Year end is a great time to pick up lost customers.
via The Democrats on GIPHY10. Break the Routine
Do things differently.
Now, I’m all about having a schedule and staying focused, but never hesitate to break the routine this time of year.
That means I may be making calls Friday afternoon, or at eight o’clock in the morning. I’m going to break the routine in how I reach out to people because again, schedules change. Be prepared for that.
This week on The Sales Hunter Podcast…There are several traits that make a salesperson rise to the Top 1%. But it’s not one-size-fits-all! What everyone does have: a superpower. Have you discovered your sales superpower yet? Learn how on Thursday’s episode. Available wherever you stream.
Copyright 2022, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results .
The post 10 Prospecting Hacks for November and December first appeared on The Sales Hunter.
Prospecting Hacks for November and December
Putting in the effort now boosts your fourth quarter, while simultaneously setting up the new year for success.
Let’s walk through 10 strategies and approaches that you can use to prospect during Q4.
1. Thanksgiving weekBelieve it or not, it’s a great week to prospect. Why? Because so many people are on a different schedule. There are a lot of people off. I get it. That means meetings that normally occur don’t happen. So I can make phone calls on Thanksgiving week and I can have conversations with people that I don’t normally have the ability to reach. They answer the phone because they’re willing to talk, willing to have a conversation.
This is especially true for higher up people that you don’t normally have a chance to reach.
via Paramount+ on GIPHY2. Holiday hours
If you are in any kind of a business that’s a supply business, you can call a prospect and say, “Hey, I want to let you be aware that we’re going to be open X day, X time.”
You communicate with prospects because they may be buying from a different supplier (and they’re going to be closed!) Cha-ching. It’s an easy way for you to pick up additional business.
3. Thank you callsYou may send out holiday cards, you may send out Christmas gifts, whatever it is. But what I love doing is picking up the phone and calling people and saying thank you. I do this with existing customers, people who perhaps used to do business with me or people I just know.
It creates conversation, and from that–opportunities. Prospecting is all about creating opportunities!
via The Office on GIPHY4. The personal touch
Let’s say you see somebody make a comment somewhere, perhaps Linkedin. Well, you add a personal touch, you add a personal comment back.
People’s mindsets shift during November and December and they’re far more open to personal conversations. Take advantage of it.
5. December holidays.Read more about How Prospecting Looks Different in Q4
The last two weeks of the year are always weird. This year for instance, Christmas and New Year’s each fall on a Sunday. So the holidays are going to bleed into Mondays. It’s going to mean a lot of disrupted weeks.
Just like Thanksgiving week, it’s an excellent time to be making calls. Yes, a lot of people are out, but there will be people you do get a hold of. What a way to jumpstart the first quarter! While most people are just starting to get going, you’ve already got meetings on the calendar.
What you missed on Monday:Prospecting v.s. Selling…Do You Know the Difference?
Make sure you’re not focused on selling when you should be prospecting. Which activities define each one? …Find this episode of The Sales Hunter Podcast wherever you stream.
New episodes every Monday and Thursday!
6. Speed meetingsQ4 is not the time to say, “Hey, what’s your calendar look like a couple weeks from now?” Speed meetings are, “Hey, have you got 15 minutes tomorrow?”
Think 15 minutes this afternoon, or 20 minutes now.
What you don’t want them to say is, “Why don’t we just touch base after the first year.”
7. Reach out to old customersOld customers may be buying from somebody else and then suddenly they need you. Yes, even that is prospecting because I’m creating opportunities!
You won’t know unless you contact them.
via Saturday Night Live on GIPHY8. Lost deals
You may have had an unbelievable opportunity in the first quarter that you didn’t get, and went to somebody else. Call that customer up. “Hey, how’s that working out for you? I want to find out because we are here to help you.”
It’s amazing how much business you can pick up which isn’t involved in that other contract.
9. Lost customersRead more about How to Keep Your Year-End Sales Simple
They left you because they weren’t happy. Don’t think for a moment that you can’t reach back out to them. In fact, you need to, because the end of the year is the best time of year.
People begin to evaluate. Imagine hearing, “Yeah, you’re right. We left you guys. We weren’t happy with you, but we went over here. You know what? They’re not any good at all. We need to talk.”
Year end is a great time to pick up lost customers.
via The Democrats on GIPHY10. Break the Routine
Do things differently.
Now, I’m all about having a schedule and staying focused, but never hesitate to break the routine this time of year.
That means I may be making calls Friday afternoon, or at eight o’clock in the morning. I’m going to break the routine in how I reach out to people because again, schedules change. Be prepared for that.
This week on The Sales Hunter Podcast…There are several traits that make a salesperson rise to the Top 1%. But it’s not one-size-fits-all! What everyone does have: a superpower. Have you discovered your sales superpower yet? Learn how on Thursday’s episode. Available wherever you stream.
Copyright 2022, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results .
The post Prospecting Hacks for November and December first appeared on The Sales Hunter.
November 9, 2022
10 Strategies for Current Customers
Of course, current customers can’t be your only focus. That would lead to a dry or clogged pipeline.
But if your pipeline is looking okay, and you need another year-end sales strategy to meet your goals, it’s time to go back to your customer contacts. You might be surprised at the deals you’re able to make!
1. Check order historyDon’t just look at what customers are ordering today. Look at what they were ordering six months ago, a year ago. What’s changed?
Are there items that they’re no longer ordering?
Are there things that they are ordering now that they weren’t ordering then?
Look for all of the gaps that you can find in the history of orders, and this is going to give you opportunities to have discussions. “Hey, I notice you haven’t ordered this in a while. Why?” Or, “I notice you’re ordering this, but you’re not ordering that.”
2. Add-on salesI use my order history to begin to determine the next logical item. In other words, they may be ordering one thing and there’s a logical companion item they may not be aware of–perhaps even because they’re buying it from somebody else.
I need to make sure I’m following up with them and I’m making recommendations. It’s very easy since the customer is already set up in the system.
This is an easy way to create incremental business for you and satisfy your customer’s needs that much better.
via Madz on GIPHY3. Know the calendar
Know exactly how many days you have left, because you’ve got your calendar marked off with holidays that you’re taking, or vacation days that you’re taking. You also want to know when you’re closed, when your customers are closed, etc.
I talked about this topic in much more detail in a previous video you can watch here or blog you can read here.
via The Sales Hunter on GIPHY4. Year-end funds
It’s time for a very serious conversation with each division you sell to. You may sell to multiple divisions within the same company, and you may hear one division tell you, “Oh, we don’t have any year end money.”
Do not assume that with other divisions. Because different divisions, different departments, different groups are going to have different budgets, different piles of available money that you can tap into.
5. ReferralsAll you have to do is ask. Call up every one of your existing customers. The easiest referral is a referral within the company.
Watch this The Sales Hunter Podcast episode with Bill Cates on How to Get More Referrals or find Episode 21 wherever you stream.
In other words, you’re dealing with a certain department and you ask them, “Hey, who else in your company should I be talking to?” Boom, easy.
It might be other suppliers, other vendors, other customers that they have. There are so many ways for you to be getting referrals, but you’ve got to ask for them.
This Thursday, join guest Jeb Blount and Mark for a conversation on returning to the fundamentals in times of crisis.
Find The Sales Hunter Podcast wherever you stream.
6. Thank you callsI love thank you calls. November and December is when you want to be making thank you calls to all your customers. Now, these are over and above everything else that you’ve done for the client. Only do this if you’re genuinely thankful.
“Hey, thank you for the business we’ve been able to do this year. It’s been absolutely terrific. I’ve appreciated it. I valued it, and I’m looking forward to next year…yada, yada, yada.”
What’s interesting is they’re going to wind up suddenly telling you what they have in store for next year. “Oh, you know what? We need to talk about this, or we need to talk about that.” It is a very easy way to generate more sales.
7. Brothers and sistersThe other day, I was doing some work with a company that is owned by a holding company that owns five other companies. So, guess what? There are multiple other brothers and sisters. So, I’m working to find out who the people I should be talking to in those other brother and sister companies are.
There may be distant relatives. In other words, there may be a company that you’re selling to and they are the exclusive supplier to another company. Well, guess what? I want to find out who that other company is, because there may be other things that I can sell them.
Look for all of the other entities that your current customers are dealing with, as they all become opportunities for you.
via Britannia on EPIX on GIPHY8. Speed sells
You’ve got to make it extremely easy for your customers to do business. I’m going to land and expand.
In other words, I may not be able to fulfill this entire order, but I’m going to send you what I can do right now with this. And then I’ll expand it, meaning when I get the inventory, I’ll get the rest of this taken care of.
9. Year-end business reviewsThese are so easy. You call up a customer and you say, “Hey, getting to the end of the year, and I’d love to come in and have a conversation with you about all the business that we’ve been able to do this year, and just talk about where the business lies.”
This is not a historical recap. You’re going to have just a little bit of historical recap, but it’s about creating future conversations. That’s what your goal is.
Your goal is also to be able to get a conversation going with people further up in the food chain than just the customer you sell to. It might be senior management, but you’re going to have that conversation with them.
You may suddenly wind up with year end opportunities. More importantly, you’re probably going to wind up with big opportunities that you can chase next year.
10. Double check each order.Things can get missed very easily, and you could miss your number by 1% or 2% simply because orders didn’t get processed correctly.
Double check each order. Be absolutely careful.
via PBS on GIPHYWhat you missed on Monday:
The Sales Hunter Podcast coming at you TWO TIMES a week!
This past Monday: How to Get Prospects to Respond
Have you stopped believing you can help your prospects? Prospects will respond if they believe you can help them with a current important issue.
Listen to this episode wherever you stream, and learn from Mark how to create confidence and stay relevant.
NEW Masterclass available centered around better follow-up and preventing radio silence.
Become immersed in the 6 training videos and workbook and turn into a master of communication, conversation, and returning to the art of helping people.
If you know you can help a prospect, it’s your responsibility to reach out….and keep reaching out. Let Mark teach you how.
Enroll in the Stop Getting Ghosted Masterclass here.
via The Sales Hunter on GIPHY Read more from this Year End Series here:
How Salespeople Can Organize Their Time AND Goals
During Year-end: How to Keep Your Sales Simple
How Prospecting Looks Different in Q4
Copyright 2022, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results .
The post 10 Strategies for Current Customers first appeared on The Sales Hunter.
November 2, 2022
How Prospecting Looks Different in Q4
Time isn’t on your side. So what do we most need to focus on?
See my 10 insights below on how to adjust for success in the 4th quarter.
1. Know your funnelThis means you’ve got to be up to date on your CRM system. And more than ever, right now in the fourth quarter, I’m paying attention to what’s in the lower third. Those are prospects that probably have the greatest probability of closing.
I need to make sure that I’m allocating my time, and I know exactly what’s in my funnel, because it’s also going to help me identify how much more I need to put in, or where I need to put my focus because of the size of the opportunity.
2. Past and lost customersYou may think, “But Mark, they found another vendor. They don’t like what we have…” Hold it, you don’t know that. That’s an assumption. You don’t know that until you talk to them. You took the time and effort to develop a relationship with them to get them as a customer, right? Okay, now maximize it.
Reach back out to them, because they may be buying from somebody else, but it’s year end and they can’t get what they need. You can be there.
via GIPHY
As far as lost customers go–you know the customer that you thought you were going to get, but ultimately they went with another option versus you? Well, in the fourth quarter, all bets are off because it’s amazing how things change and twist. And you can pick up a tremendous amount of business.
Years ago, I was running a pipe, pump, and valve distribution facility, and we did this right at the end of December with past and lost customers. It was incredible the amount of business we picked up.
3. Allocate your timeOf course, there are certain activities that are going to take longer than others. For example, if you have a prospect that’s a little further up in your funnel, you better be allocating more time to them right now.
You need as many weeks as possible to try to close them. Allocate your time judiciously based on where it needs to be spent.
4. Telephone firstThe smartphone is not a 500 pound dumbbell, it is an absolutely powerful tool. The phone works, but you’ve got to use it. More than ever, right now, you have to accelerate the selling process.
Using your voice, and having a conversation with a prospect gives you so much information. In fact, in one phone call you can get as much information as an email exchange over five or six weeks.
Like email, it won’t be instant. You’ll have to leave a lot of voicemails. In fact, it could take between 12-16 voicemails to finally reach someone. But when you do, it’s powerful.
5. Think CFTI talk a lot about how to pair the phone and email for maximum power, and how to leave great voicemails in my Phone Prospecting Masterclass. Check it out here.
What’s CFT? Customer facing time; I talk about this in my book, A Mind for Sales. You’re either face to face with them, on a Zoom call, Teams call, maybe you’re on the phone with them, you’re actively exchanging emails with them, or something of that nature.
There’s also CFT that you spend in front of prospects. It’s two separate measurements.
I find a lot of people spend all their CFT with existing customers. However, the amount of time spent on existing customers prevents you from spending time on prospects. You need to invest some time in prospects, or that pipeline will run dry.
via DrSquatch on GIPHY6. Sell the close-in need
This is not the time to boil the ocean, this is time to get tight. I’m going to sell the need that they have today.
What if the deal is broken into parts, and they don’t need something until the second or third quarter of the year? Unless they’re flushed with cash looking to spend, if you sell it as a complete unit they may say, “Well, you know what? Why don’t we just push the whole project to next year?” And then you’ve lost that opportunity. Separate the pieces and stay tight.
7. Year-end fundingThe bigger the company, the more likely they are to have year-end funding. But here’s the deal, companies are starting to get conservative.
So, you may have departments that margin today, but they may not have it a week from now. Better to play year-end funding card right now before potentially they either spend it or they lose it.
via MOOT on GIPHY8. Sell TCO
TCO, total cost of ownership. Focus on the total cost–because nobody buys anything, they only invest. So, they’re going to invest X amount of money and they’ll want to get X plus Y out of it.
But here’s the risk: total cost of ownership might be over three, four or five years. And that’s okay, but you have to be careful that you can still make that sale happen this year.
You may have to create TCO that only happens in the first quarter, or something of that nature. There are various versions of total cost of ownership, but it’s a great strategy to play.
9. Rinse and repeatThe three most critical sales words found on every bottle of shampoo, rinse and repeat. Rinse; I’m sending a new message to my prospects, but I’m repeating the process.
Now more than ever, follow-up is absolutely key.
10. Be availableDo follow-up that actually continues the conversation, not stall it. Enroll in the Stop Getting Ghosted Masterclass today!
This is not the time to go dark. Do not put any kind of out-of-office message on your email or voicemail this time of year.
You need to be checking it, because things can happen and can change quickly and you need to take advantage of it.
This week on The Sales Hunter Podcast…Have salespeople fallen into the AI trap? We’re not robots, and a robot could never do what a salesperson can…right?See more Year-End Sales Advice on How to Keep Your Sales Simple and How to Organize Your Time AND Goals in the fourth quarter.
via GIPHY
Join Mark and guest Larry Long Jr. as they discuss using technology to advance you, but not to replace you.
PLUS if sales is a transfer of energy…what should that look like?
Catch this episode Thursday morning, or find a plethora of other Sales Hunter topics wherever you stream podcasts.
What you missed on Monday…How to Unlock the Potential of Voicemail
Don’t leave another terrible voicemail!
Listen to Mark’s quick tips from Monday’s episode of The Sales Hunter Podcast.
NEW Masterclass available now!Think of all the deals you didn’t close this year because the prospect went silent. What if you could change that?
Consider this your Anti-Ghosting Guide. Start having better communication, and more effective follow-up now. Click here for more information.
Join this industry expert panel, including: Donald Kelly, The Sales EvangelistMark Hunter, The Sales Hunterand Molly McKinstry, Calendly’s Head of Enterprise Sales …as they share advice and lessons learned for reaching your full revenue potential.Nov. 2nd at 1:00 p.m. EDT Register and find out more here.
Copyright 2022, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results .
The post How Prospecting Looks Different in Q4 first appeared on The Sales Hunter.
October 26, 2022
How to Keep Your Sales Simple
Really, there’s no time of the year to boil the ocean, but end of year especially, it’s time to keep your activities and processes simple.
So what works best if simplicity is the name of the game? Check out these eight strategies.
1. Sell urgency.Urgency works. Your customers have situations, and things they need to accomplish before the end of the year. Make it easy for them to do business with you.
They may have money that they need to spend. Help them spend it! They may need to put what you offer in place before moving on to something else.
There’s even urgency that you can create in terms of, “Hey, if we don’t get this order in by this date, we’re going to run out of inventory. Or, we’re not going to be able to wind up providing you with this until X date.“
Please, don’t do any of your self-created urgencies unless they’re real. Don’t manufacture fake urgency. Customers can smell that.
2. Sell the high value needs.Since the pandemic, customers are focused on just those one or two key priorities. When you get to the end of the year, this is even more true. In fact, we hear a lot of, “We’ll set this up next year.”
You’ve got to identify that most critical need they have and focus on that. When they say something to you, come back and ask them a question about it. Ask them another question. Flush that out as much as possible and leverage the information you gain.
3. Routine orders.Yes, you’ve got routine orders that are coming in all the time. Make sure that they continue. Watch your customers to make sure that no order is forgotten.
Monitor routine orders so they happen on schedule, on time, and they include all of the items that should be in there.
via GIPHY4. Daily target.
Set yourself a daily objective. These are the number of calls I’m going to make. Make that your plan for the day.
5. ReferralsRead more from last week’s: How Salespeople Can Organize Their Time AND Goals
Referrals are the easiest way to grow your business.
It’s so easy to grow your business with referrals, and yet so few salespeople ask for them.
When you get referrals, these are many times people who are already motivated to buy. They’re qualified, they’re ready. Make it a focus of your time to be out asking for referrals. Then, when you get them, follow up.
Here’s a little trick: If someone gave you a referral three to six months ago, and something came of it, call them back up and say, “Hey, I was just thinking, thank you again for that referral that you gave me six months ago. They turned out to be a great customer.” You know what’s interesting? Many times they’ll respond, “Oh, you know what? Here’s somebody else I should refer to you.” Excellent!
6. Make it easy.One of the things I love doing in terms of making it easier, when I have a new customer that’s coming on board, I’ll say, “Hey, let’s go ahead and get the credit app filled out right now. And let’s get me set up as a vendor in your system right now.” The reason being is because when the order comes, you want to be able to push it through quickly.
That also means don’t pummel them with 10,000 decisions to make. Make it easy. How many times have you seen a new product come out, let’s say smartphones, and there are so many new smartphones on the market you don’t know which one to get, so as a result, you don’t buy anything.
Make it easy for your customer by just giving them one or two choices. It’s A or it’s B. That’s it.
via GIPHY7. Paperwork
Don’t allow yourself to start getting behind. Many times what happens is when sales people get behind, they start not putting stuff into their CRM system. They start losing track of things.
Don’t fall into that habit! You’ve got to stay on track.
8. Speed sells.If you have a customer with an opportunity, you have to help them with it right now. Now more than ever, once you get an inbound lead, you have one minute to call them back. One minute.
Speed sells because they have an itch, and if they don’t get it taken care of, they’re going to go someplace else.
This applies to follow-up meetings, too. Gone are the days of scheduling something for next week. No, let’s get a meeting on the calendar for tomorrow.
via GIPHYThis week on The Sales Hunter Podcast…
What’s the ideal relationship between technology and sales?Has efficiency trumped effectiveness?
Our guest, Dr. Howard Dover and Mark answer these questions and much more on The Sales Hunter Podcast‘s episode dropping Thursday morning.
Monday episodes now coming at you weekly! Subscribe so you never miss an amazing opportunity to learn from the best of the best in sales.
What you missed on Monday:
How to Make the Phone a Useful Prospecting Tool
If you’re not picking up the phone and calling prospects in conjunction with other tools such as email or text, you’re missing out on a great deal of business. Tune in for Mark’s tips on best ways to make the phone work for you.
You did your part.You started a conversation. But now they’ve gone silent on you. What now?Find out more here.
$59 gets you:6 training videos on follow-up and preventing radio silence+ a 22-page workbook for even greater learning.Click here to enroll.
Copyright 2022, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results .
The post How to Keep Your Sales Simple first appeared on The Sales Hunter.
October 19, 2022
How Salespeople Can Organize Their Time AND Goals
This is Part I of a 4-Part Year-End Sales Strategies series.
You must know, if you don’t have your goals in place and don’t understand how to leverage your time, there’s no sense of even trying to get to the end of the year.
That’s not you though, right? Let’s finish the year strong with these 10 tips.
1. Know your gap.Your gap is not where you are currently with your business and where you need to be. I mean take all the business that you already have in the bank and what you know is coming–what you absolutely know is coming. That’s the total, and then subtract that from what you need, that’s your gap.
Know what your gap is so you know what you’re chasing for. Because otherwise how do I know?
via The Office on GIPHY2. Know your calendar.
Now, the fourth quarter of the year is really weird. It’s a short quarter because of all the holidays. So, understand that it’s not a traditional 13 week. Additionally, put in place which holidays you’re going to be off. Is there any other time off that you’re going to be taking? Mark that in your calendar right now so you begin to understand how many days you really have.
3. Your company’s calendarListen to more tips like this on this week’s episode of The Sales Hunter Podcast: 7 Year-End Strategies to Maximize Your Success.
When is your company going to be closed?When’s it going to be open? When’s the last day for orders to be processed or credit apps to be taken? Get that in your calendar and then your customer’s calendar.
via CmdrKitten on GIPHY4. Your Customer’s Calendar
Your customers are going to be closed certain days. They’re probably going to have a last day that they’re going to receive orders or they’re going to place POs, whatever it might be.
Have this conversation now with your existing customers. They’ll be shocked! “Hey, you know what? I hadn’t even thought about it. You’re right. I need to find out.” Bring that issue up to your current customers and they’re going to thank you for it. But more importantly, you’re now going to be ahead of the game.
5. Eliminate non-revenue actions.I’ve got to work on closing the gap. I don’t have time to worry about reorganizing this project or working on something else. That will just have to wait.
Instead, you need the maximum amount of time to close the gap with activities that generate revenue and help me meet my year-end goals.
6. Weekly goalsYou know that I love talking about your annual goals, your quarterly goals, but you need to have weekly goals. Break down your gap and what you need to get done into weekly goals, and you have to become absolutely maniacal about them.
It’s getting focused on the activities. That means keeping your mind on the tasks that will bring you closer to your goals, and not just focused on the numbers.
7. Time allocationTake inventory of your goals, then get them (and yourself) to the next level with the Goal Setting Masterclass at The Sales Hunter University.
Okay, what time am I going to allocate to each one of these things? If I don’t allocate time, it’s not going to happen.
Too many times what happens is we set the week up, but there’s no prize, no penalty if I don’t achieve it.
via CBC on GIPHY
8. Be accountable.
Who are you accountable to? Don’t just say it’s your boss. Are there peers? Is there a mastermind group?
This is like having a coach. Coaches help hold people accountable. See, I can set my weekly goals and I can have time allocation, but if I’m not accountable, it’s not going to happen.
9. Stay on task.This is why you do time allocation. You literally put it in your calendar, and you block your day so you know exactly what you’re going to be doing when.
I run a company, consult for companies, prepare and give keynotes, coach salespeople, write and shoot masterclasses, make videos like this one for my audience, and host two podcasts. THIS is how I stay on task, because I know when I have a gap to fill, and these are the activities I have to do to fill that gap.
via Eva on GIPHY10. Celebrate your wins.
You may be just racing full speed ahead, but take the time to celebrate your wins. You achieved something significant!
It’s amazing when you celebrate your wins, regardless of how small they might be, how your brain begins to think differently, and it’s amazing the success that you’ll begin to have.
This week on The Sales Hunter Podcast…
What does a day in the life of a 7-Figure Salesperson look like?We welcome Brandon Bornancin to drop some wisdom on believing in yourself, and doing whatever it takes to reach your goals–even the really really big ones.
Check your favorite streaming service for episodes of The Sales Hunter Podcast! Subscribe so you never miss an episode.
What you missed on Monday…
That’s right, The Sales Hunter Podcast will be dropping Monday episodes in addition to our regular Thursday content!
This week Mark is talking Q4.How can you achieve shorter sales cycles and new or greater revenue before year end? Listen in as Mark shares his 7 Year-End Strategies to Maximize Your Sales.
Copyright 2022, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results .
The post How Salespeople Can Organize Their Time AND Goals first appeared on The Sales Hunter.
October 12, 2022
8 Guidelines for a Great 4th Quarter
Some of you are thinking, “Hey, it’s been a great year,” because you’ve done well in Q1-3. Others are saying, “Ugh,” because you simply didn’t accomplish everything you hoped.
Giving up is not an option! If you want to make the fourth quarter the best one, follow these eight tips.
1. Discipline and focusPeople ask me all the time, “Mark, what’s the number one thing I need to do to be successful in sales?” And I say, “You need to be disciplined and have focus.”
Disciplined with your objectives and how you manage your time. Focused on the customers you’re dealing with to understand them at a level nobody else understands them.
2. Review your pipeline.I just did this over the weekend, and I saw several things in my pipeline that I can zero in on.
Spend some time looking at things in the lower half of your pipeline. In other words, if what’s coming in at the top are prospects, and those moving out the bottom are customers, what are the things in the lower half? Those are the ones where you’ve got to focus on.
Take each one of those, start breaking them apart, and ask yourself: What do I need to do? Is it possible to make it close? Keep things simple.
As people get desperate, they start doing stupid things. Focus instead on your next step with those prospects.
via Josephina on GIPHY3. Assess your current customers.
You undoubtedly have got a lot of customers that are probably capable of doing a lot more business with you. Ask yourself this question: Why am I not getting more business? What is it that I need to be doing to get more business from them?
It’s a very easy step up, because assessing your current customers includes such things as:
What are additional items you can sell them? Are there additional divisions? Are there other people you should be talking to within that company?There’s a wealth of business ready to be made if you put in the effort.
4. Referrals.Tune in to this week’s episode of The Sales Hunter Podcast, Mastering the Upsell for more on this topic. Available every Thursday a.m.
Referrals are always one of the fastest, easiest ways to get business. Currently, what are you doing to get referrals? And what are you doing to give referrals?
Remember, referrals are a two way street. If you want to get referrals, you better start by giving referrals.
It’s an excellent tool. Ask yourself, who are my referral partners? Who are the best people that I can be working with that are going to help me get more referrals?
5. Leverage the calendar.Read about How to Create a Referral Network.
Right now, sit down and look at the calendar. Look at all the holidays, the year end for your own company, as well as year end for your current customers. If you deal with other countries, look at the holidays in those countries? Why? Because this is going to affect how you manage your time.
Do you have vacation time you’re taking as you get down towards the end of the year? Because all of these things begin to come into play, and I’d rather be planning for it right up front.
One of the biggest things to know is when is the last day that you can get an order in for this calendar year to get it shipped, or for a customer to receive it? In other words, are there credit terms you need to work out? Are there various pieces of paperwork you need to get done to be able to ensure that end of the year orders get shipped and taken care of?
via Daniela Sherer on GIPHY6. Keep it simple.
Don’t overcomplicate things for your customer. If you give them too many things to think about, or you give them too many options, you’re going to lose deals.
You’ll begin to hear a lot of, “Oh man, we need to think about it. We’re just going to push this off to the first of the year.” We will hear that a lot starting in November.
Instead, make it very easy for your customer to do business with you today, right now.
via Adventure Capitalist on GIPHY7. Focus on the task at hand.
It’s so easy to get sidetracked right now. “Well, I don’t think I’m going to make my number, so I’m going to kind of venture off and do this.” No, stay focused and hold yourself accountable for each two hour block of time.
It’s called time blocking. It’s something I advocate a lot, and means I block my time for every two hour segment, and I’m going to hold myself accountable for that two hour segment.
It’s one of the reasons I love the 10:00 AM rule. The 10:00 AM rule is very simply this: You want to have accomplished something significant before 10:00 AM each day. Why? Because that is going to give you more momentum. It’s amazing how much more productive your day will be, because you feel good.
Even if your day should fall apart, it will still have been a good day, because you accomplished something significant.
8. Your attitude matters.Make sure that you’re hanging with positive people.
That includes who you spend time with physically, but also what you read, and what you listen to.
That’s why I put these videos out, and why I have my podcast, The Sales Hunter Podcast. Not to mention, The Sales Hunter University, and all the coaching I do, because I hope I can be a positive influence on your life and on your sales.
I know these ideas are going to help you as we enter into the accountability quarter. But don’t forget, your mindset is even more important than your skillset.
This week on The Sales Hunter Podcast…
If upselling can increase your sales by up to 30%, why aren’t more salespeople doing it?Join Mark and Victor Antonio share their strategies for upselling, cross-selling, and for presenting your package(s), and getting full price with confidence.
Stream wherever you listen to podcasts.
Copyright 2022, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results .
The post 8 Guidelines for a Great 4th Quarter first appeared on The Sales Hunter.
October 5, 2022
5 Ways to Build Your Sales with Your Network
Why? You’ve heard it said: What’s the best way to increase your net worth? Increase your network.
Let’s dive into 5 ways to ensure your network is an incredible asset.
1. Power listI recently moved to Dallas. Before I moved to Dallas, I built out a list of more than 50 people who I wanted to connect with. Most I did not know–probably about 40 of them I didn’t even know. I’ve got Ross Perot Jr. on my list. I even have Mark Cuban on my list. These are people who I want to get to know.
I may never get a chance to connect with Mark Cuban, although I have a feeling I will. But you know what? Along the way, I’m going to meet other people on my way to meeting Mark Cuban.
This isn’t an ego trip. No, this is about building my network, because I want to understand what has made these people and what I can learn from them. And maybe there’s something I can share with them!
Create a power list. And over the next two to three years, your objective is to connect with every person on that power list, whether they be in your city, your country, or wherever in the world.
via Amazon Prime Video on GIPHY
2. Peers
This is a smaller list of 10 to 20 people who you can count on for sound wisdom. These are people for whom you share mutual respect, and you can call them up and get advice. You might call this your peer network.
Your peer network is also where a tremendous amount of referrals come from. This means not only referrals coming your way, but you giving them referrals. It’s wonderful!
3. MastermindRead these 10 Tips to Get More Referrals
A mastermind group is a very tight circle of people who hold you accountable, challenge you on what you’re doing, plus you grow together with them.
These are people who really understand you and have your best interest, like a family. I’m part of a mastermind group with three other people who I incredibly appreciate. We talk and we text regularly and that’s from a business perspective. My wife and I are also in a “small group” with four other couples. And again, we connect and we help each other out as we go through life.
A mastermind group gives you insights that are given in a safe space. It lifts all of us up to the next place. My business would not be as successful today if it were not for my mastermind group.
via CBBC on GIPHY4. Coach
Tom Brady is without a doubt a GOAT, Greatest of all Time.
He’s in his mid 40s now and he’s still still playing quarterback at a very high level. He has multiple coaches. If somebody at that high level of success believes in having coaches, then you and I should too.
Having a coach is absolutely critical. One of the things that I love about my job is I get to coach people. (and I have coaches!) If you’re interested in that, reach out to me. Let’s talk. I coach a select number of people on a regular basis.
Coaching is critical because the coach helps expose things, and digs down deep into helping you get to the next level.
We learn a lot when we take the time to help others. My greatest growth always occurs when I’m taking the time to mentor someone else–because there’s something magical. There’s a level of accountability, of forthcoming, of transparency. Just like there’s a level of development that happens with the person who you are mentoring, it affects you too!
Yes, it does require work, but it always pays off. Remember you building a network like growing a tree. I like to think of having a Mark Hunter tree and it goes up and it casts a lot of shade over a lot of other people so they can stay cool on a hot summer day.
A network is not something that you take from. A network is something that you nurture. And I’ve found this: the more I nurture my network, the more rewards I get.
Read more about Asset #1, Time.
Read more about Asset #2, Mind.
This week on The Sales Hunter Podcast…
Success in sales isn’t all about your product or your customers, it’s about you.Mark shares 6 Habits of Top Performing Salespeople…how many are you doing?
Listen Thursday morning, and subscribe so you never miss an episode!
If you know you can help a customer, but you don’t reach out to them, you’re committing sales malpractice.
But sometimes they just don’t respond. Or worse: they ghost you.Now presenting: Your Anti-Ghosting Guide, a masterclass for salespeople like you who just want to get through to customers and have productive conversations.
You’ll get an awesome workbook with engaging training videos by Mark Hunter, and you’re on your way to preventing radio silence. Enroll now here!
Copyright 2022, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results .
The post 5 Ways to Build Your Sales with Your Network first appeared on The Sales Hunter.
September 28, 2022
How to Use Your Mind as a Sales Asset
How do you ensure your mindset is propelling you forward and not holding you back? Check out these 6 tips.
1. Who are you tapping into?Click here to read last week’s asset #1, time.
Who are the people you’re learning from? They may be on the internet, or other people in your circle, but who are you tapping into to gain knowledge?
I can’t help but think of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger, three incredibly brilliant and wealthy individuals–and they collaborate together. They talk incessantly. There’s definitely something to learn from that.
via GIPHY2. What are you learning?
Are you reading and learning from a cross-section of perspectives? I see too many people focused with one set of beliefs and that’s all they ever examine.
A diverse perspective is important because the people you come in contact with as a salesperson have different business philosophies, and different strategies. I need to understand all of them because it helps me be more beneficial to them.
Charlie Munger was asked a number of years ago what book he was reading. And he said he was reading a book on electrical engineering. At the time he was in his mid-80s, and reading a book on electrical engineering.
Why? He said, “Because I really don’t think I know enough about that subject.”
3. How are you using it?Are you listening to The Sales Hunter Podcast? Each week we cover the topics in sales you most need to know about. Plus intriguing guests that are at the top of our field. Find us wherever you stream.
This is really key. Sure, you acquire knowledge. But how are you playing it back?
How is it helping you: with your customers? Or with how you do your job?
I love learning something new and sharing it with customers. Not to preach on them, but because I’ve found it to be beneficial. I read a book, I like the book and I immediately recommend it to other people. I have other people do that to me. I’m using it not only to benefit myself, but to help benefit others.
via Dr. Donna Thomas Rodgers on GIPHY
4. Where can you share it?
Be deliberate about your knowledge by being a resource that your customers can turn to.
For example, you know you are received as a critical asset to a customer when they ask you questions about stuff you don’t know, you don’t sell, or about stuff that they wouldn’t expect you to know. That puts you head and shoulders above 99% of all other salespeople.
That’s using your mind as an asset to become an asset.
via NETFLIX on GIPHY5. What’s your daily routine?
Think of how much time it would take to get ready in the morning if you didn’t have a routine. But because you have a routine, I’ll bet you do the exact same thing in the exact same order every morning. That allows you to do it effortlessly.
What you want to do is save your mind for those activities that are absolutely critical. I know incredibly brilliant people who literally eat the same meal every day for lunch, because they don’t want to think about it. Steve Jobs, of course, always wore a black shirt, because he didn’t want to think about it.
Simplify what you can, and make it into a routine to allow your mind to be more focused.
6. Celebrate your success.Click here to learn how to create more time for selling.
A positive mind delivers positive results. When you go down a negative path, it’s amazing how everything becomes negative. View what you do in a positive light.
What does that mean? At the end of every day, take a moment. Whatever it was that you accomplished, it may even be pretty insignificant, but celebrate it.
End the day on a positive note and it will frame your mind up for the next day.
via The Office on GIPHY
This week on The Sales Hunter Podcast…
Are your prospecting emails not yielding results?Join Mark Thursday for this solo episode as he dives into seven of his best email prospecting tips that will improve the content of your email, as well as the response rate.
You don’t want emails that just get opened, you want them to start a conversation–and lead to a sale!
Subscribe here on your favorite streaming platform so you never miss an episode!
NEW Masterclass: Stop Getting Ghosted
Gain top-performer strategies for how to communicate with customers to prevent radio silence, OR how to make a comeback if the client still goes dark.
6 in-depth videos with Mark Hunter + Step-by-step Workbook.
Sign up or learn more here.
Copyright 2022, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results .
The post How to Use Your Mind as a Sales Asset first appeared on The Sales Hunter.
September 21, 2022
How to Invest Your Time Effectively to Sell Better
How can you invest each minute of your work day with a purpose?
Today’s asset most salespeople overlook is: your time. Here are five strategies to use your time wisely and profitably.
1. The 10:00 AM ruleTake your smartphone and set the alarm for 10:00 AM. I want it to go off every day at 10:00 AM, even on Saturdays and Sundays.
Now seek to accomplish something significant before 10:00 AM, whether it be responding to a proposal, or taking care of a sales call. It might be doing something with your spouse, your kids.
When you do something significant, it gets you excited. You feel a lot better. What’s more, it motivates you to actually be more productive over the course of the day.
via unfdcentral on GIPHY
Focus on the most important thing of the day, and purpose to get it done before 10:00 a.m. Why? Imagine your boss suddenly throws a wrench into your day. That’s right, you don’t get anything else done the rest of the day because of what your boss just threw at you. Not so fast! You accomplished something meaningful before 10:00 a.m, so you’ve still had a productive day.
2. Time blockingFind 10 more time management strategies for salespeople here.
I block my time every day and these aren’t just appointments with other people. No, these are appointments with myself.
In fact, the most important appointments I have are the ones I keep with myself, because I set aside this hour to do this task or another.
via GIPHY
I call it the 2×4 Principle. Yes, like the piece of wood. Now, don’t take it and beat it across your head. Instead, break your day down into four, two hour blocks, and choose a significant task that you’re doing in each one of those. (Of course, placing the most significant one before 10:00 AM, right?)
After you get done with any given two hour block, you evaluate yourself. How’d you do? It’s amazing how much more you’ll be able to get done when you time block.
Work will expand to the amount of time you give it. Therefore, I’m going to put bumpers on the time I give it.
3. Focus and disciplineWhen I’m doing a task, I stay focused on that task.
“Mark, you don’t understand. My phone rings, or an email comes in.” I get it.
Here’s the deal. Do you answer the phone when you’re using the restroom? I hope you don’t. So hey, it can wait.
Sure, you may have to say: Within this two hour block, I’ll allocate two, 15 minute windows to take care of these things that pop up. That’s fine, but the rest of your time block depends on focused, disciplined effort.
via Curb Your Enthusiasm on GIPHY
4. Consistency
Check out this episode of Sales Logic: How to Exercise Self-Discipline in Sales.
Catch new episodes of SLP with Mark Hunter and Meridith Elliott Powell anywhere you stream.
Another way to look at consistency is through a routine.
The alarm goes off at 4:45 every morning and by 4:50, I’m out of bed, I’ve already made the coffee and I’m starting to do my exercises. I’m in a dead set routine and it absolutely works.
I am very focused with my routine for the first hour and a half every morning. Why? It gets me focused and disciplined. It has me already practicing time blocking. Plus, it’s getting me ready for the 10:00 AM rule.
5. Be goal focusedYour objective is not to help other people achieve their goals. Your objective is to achieve yours.
I get it. You’ve got your boss, and you have to help them. I understand that, but how does it fit into your bigger picture?
As you decide how to allocate your time, ask yourself: How is this going to help me achieve my goals? Top performing people review their goals every morning.
via MAX on GIPHY
It really comes down to evaluating how you spend your time. I think it’s best to do this on a weekly basis, whether it be a late Friday afternoon, or Saturday morning, but evaluate your time and measure it to the results you achieve.
Join me next week, as I talk about asset #2: your mind.
This week on The Sales Hunter Podcast…
We welcome Matt Dixon to the podcast for tomorrow’s episode: How High Performers Overcome Customer IndecisionMatt shares how to have two playbooks: one to convince the customer to actually change the status quo, and another to empower them to finally make a decision–and feel good about it!
Tune in Thursday to hear what research actually shows…not what you’ve always been taught.
Subscribe so you don’t forget or miss an episode of TSHP!
NEW: Stop Getting Ghosted Masterclass, open for enrollment now!Learn what makes customers go dark after what seemed like great conversations. Get actionable strategies to open up dialogue again, move a deal along, or even prevent radio silence in the first place.
Don’t let customers drive the movement of a deal–or halt it for that matter. You drive that deal. Learn how from the videos and workbook of this great course by Mark Hunter, The Sales Hunter. Find out how–> here.
My friend Anthony Iannarino has written a terrific new book specifically for sales leaders called Leading Growth. It’s a comprehensive guide to generating net new revenue. I highly recommended it if you are in sales leadership or a consultant, coach, or professional whose firm is looking to grow.
Find it here on Amazon.
Copyright 2022, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results .
The post How to Invest Your Time Effectively to Sell Better first appeared on The Sales Hunter.
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