Look for new opportunities everyday to increase your prospect list.
Develop a personal plan to prospect for new leads constantly. Continue to search for new sources and understand the only key to success is that you must talk to enough people, they have to be the right kind of people, you have to tell them your story and you have to do it every day.

Establish rapport before you start selling so you can define the “need”.
Fact finding in general conversation with a prospect can be the key to developing a targeted sales presentation. Get to know your prospect and understand them before you start selling.

Make sure the next day is planned out before you go home in the evening.  Make sure next week is planned before you go home on Friday.
The best sales people are those who set priorities on their time to eliminate wasted effort.  Any time you spend on projects or tasks that do not ultimately put you in front of a prospect is very low on the priorities list.

Understand that people buy what they want from someone who knows what they need.
Not everyone has a need for everything you have to offer.  Buying motives may not even be driven by specific products.  Sometimes customer service, speedy delivery, professionalism on the part of the sales person or the reputation of the company can be the key to closing the sale.

Enter into every sales presentation with at least a half dozen open ended questions, committed to memory.
A sales presentation is a planned and controlled conversation, not a lecture.  The more you involve the prospect in the discussion, the better chance you will have of discovering the “real” need and closing the sale.

Follow-up on every completed sale at least three times in the first year after the sale is completed.
Follow-up is a key ingredient in eliminating buyer’s remorse after the sale is completed.  It can also be the catalyst for referrals and future business from the customer.  Follow-up can be as simple as a telephone call, a personal, hand-written note or even a visit after delivery of the product or service to ensure customer satisfaction.  Dissatisfied customers can be a cancer in your overall marketing effort.

Set realistic goals for yourself and then develop a plan to achieve them.
Track your performance and then understand how you achieved your goals for this month this quarter, or this year.  Assess your efforts to see where you wasted time and effort.  Make goals fit your abilities.  A 50% increase in one measurable period might be great, but not realistic.  Be sure that your established goals for yourself require a “stretch” effort.

Manage your time effectively to stay focused on those tasks that result in obtaining an appointment to make a sales presentation.
Constantly evaluate your time and effort to make sure you are not spinning your wheels in unproductive activities.  Spending time every day in your office visiting with co-workers, or spending time emailing, text messaging and talking with friends and family on the telephone may make you feel better about your personal life, but those activities won’t make you any money.

Concentrate on building strategic relationships that will result in a sales opportunity.
Be constantly on the lookout for people who do not compete with you and with whom you can establish a relationship in which you can share leads. Make business networking a significant part of your prospecting plan.  Join Chambers of Commerce and other business groups and attend as many functions as possible to develop those relationships.  

Become the master or mistress of your own destiny.
You must become your own sales manager.  You must have the intestinal fortitude to go out and do the job every day.  You have to track your own progress and control your personal effort based upon the results you get.  Ask for help when you can’t find the solution, but more often than not, the answer is to merely get out there and see more people and tell your story.  Be creative and imaginative and you can direct your own efforts to success.

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© 2008 William G. Fitzpatrick. Contact Sales Motivation Solutions for permission to reprint this article in local publications.