To obtain a strong pipeline has to be the # 1 goal of every sales person; this is vital for you and your company to survive in the long term.

Today, I'll talk to you about how to maximize your follow-up activity to create a solid pipeline and to blow up your sales.

Have A Purpose

Always have a purpose, you must have clear goals before starting to make phone calls, you have to know exactly what goals you want to achieve:

• How many phone calls do you need to get a quote?
• How many daily quotes do you need to get a sale?
• How many sales do you need to get this month / quarter / year?

Having goals will motivate you during your follow up activity.

Work On Your Tone Of Voice

Your tone of voice is one of the most important factors when it comes to telephone conversations.

Make sure you have a pleasant tone of voice. Research shows that 38% of your communication is made up from your tone of voice and 7% from the actual words spoken.

If necessary, record your voice to understand what kind of impression it gives you when you listen to the recording. It is also very important that you make sure that your tone of voice is congruent with the message you want to communicate.

Do not give up

The average sales rep only makes 2 attempts to reach a prospect.

You must be consistent with prospecting, you need to continuously grow your pipeline.

Be sure to contact your prospects as much as possible. Research shows that at least 6 attempts should be made by sales people to have a successful conversation with the prospects.

Realize that your prospect may still be at work, in a meeting, on vacation and so on so try to understand what is the best time to reach them.

According to research, the best day to call your prospects is Wednesday, the best time to call is between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m and the second best time to pick up the phone is between 11:00 a.m and 12:00 p.m.

Many sales people keep calling without ever leaving messages and this is an easy way to lose opportunities so be sure to leave a voicemail and be very concise when you leave it, your prospect needs to understand exactly the reason why you are calling them.

Mix your message

It is important to be creative when you contact your customers. Some prospects may respond better to some channels than others.

Phone calls and e-mails are fine, but there are several other channels you could use, such as social media, text-messages, videos, word of mouth and so on.

Be positive

Do not be scared by the many "I'm not interested" that you will encounter and use these experiences as feedback to improve your approach. Imagine that every "no" is an opportunity for you to improve and succeed the next phone call, imagine having an arrow and aim at a target. The first few times can be demotivating when you miss it, but little by little with practice, you will be able to improve your strategy until you hit the exact center of the target and after a while it will become an automatic process.

Your Prospects Are Gold

Always remember: Every single prospect that you have is literally gold and must be treated like it.

The biggest mistake you can make (Like many sales people out there) is to prequalify your prospects.

Every single prospect represents an enormous opportunity for profit, for future business, referrals and so on, so be sure to maximize every single opportunity that has been offered to you.

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