What is a sales rockstar you ask? Well, it’s someone who sells A LOT!
The top 0.1%
The elite
The best
They are the sales professionals who dominate the leaderboard, the ones who never struggle to hit targets and the ones who take home the very BIG commission cheque at the end of the month
(we’re looking at RepVue right now and the top reps at Alteryx are making over $1,000,000! You can see loads of sales comp data and rate your company there)
If you work in sales you’ll know it’s not that easy at all, so what do they do differently?
Want to know the secret to their sales success?
We have worked with and managed some of the most amazing sales rockstars and today are sharing the 10 secrets to their sales success.
(No.10 is one of the most important ones)
Let’s go:
1) Set Your OWN Targets – Most salespeople work towards whatever sales target they get set by management. Sales rockstars often set their OWN sales targets based not on what the company wants them to earn but what THEY want to earn. (note this is obviously usually higher than their original targets). But they align their goal to their direct motivations and what they want to achieve.
TOP TIP – Work out what YOU want or need to earn each quarter and year and why you want to earn it, and set that as your target.
2) Start Earlier – Almost every sales rockstar we’ve met with has been one of the first (if not THE first) in the office every day. Why? It allows them to get focused and ready, it allows them to reach customers earlier when they’re more likely to answer and it allows them to take control of their day, instead of coming in late and fighting a losing battle.
TOP TIP – If you’re not an early bird, then PLAN your day ahead. So each afternoon/evening, start setting everything up for the following day so you can hit the ground running.
3) Personalise The Sale – Every single sales rockstar that we’ve met makes every sale about the customer, not them. It’s not about their product or the salesperson but all about the customer, their problems and how this will help them. They’ll use names, stories and information that they uncover in research and in the conversation to make everything about them and unique to them.
TOP TIP – Research your prospects to take your personalisation to the next level. Utilise things like LinkedIn, Google searches, YouTube, podcasts, webinars, dig as deep as you can to make it more about them.
4) Avoid Distractions – The sales office can often be a distracting place, and even working remotely can be just as distracting (if not more!). Now, there is always time for banter and fun, but sales rockstars know when to put their head down and work hard. They know when to say no. Their PRIORITY is their job, to sell, to hit their numbers, everything else comes second.
TOP TIP – Set CLEAR times for selling and sales activities and have a no-distraction rule. Then, have clear break times where you can relax and do other things.
5) Qualify Your Prospects – Sales rockstars don’t waste their time trying to sell to anyone, they work hard to find the RIGHT people to sell to. They qualify them to make sure they invest their time in opportunities likely to close.
TOP TIP – Qualify early, during prospecting and initial conversations, and qualify hard. Remember, a non-qualified prospect has a high chance of being a waste of your time and may increase your risk of not hitting your number.
6) LOVE Objections – Sales rockstars are happy to deal with objections, they’re confident in their product and they’ve qualified the customer so they’re confident it’s the right solution for them, so the objection isn’t scary. Ok you don’t have to love them, but you need to be happy, prepared and confident in overcoming them.
TOP TIP – Write a list of as many objections as you can think (and keep adding to it) and then write down ways to overcome them. Have this list available as and when you need it to help you overcome MORE objections and win more sales.
7) Use All Tools Available – You’ve got to sell smart to be a sales rockstar and that means using all available tools. You’ve got to be focused on your mission to help your customer. They don’t just use these tools but they master them, they learn how to use them properly and then practice to find their perfect approach. So many salespeople are stuck using bad CRM’s, bad tools, or worse yet, NO CRM’s or tools. Would Tony Stark be a superhero without the Iron Man armour and technology? No.
If you want the best CRM for sales then you need to use Pipedrive, it’s the CRM built BY salespeople FOR salespeople.
Pipedrive is a world leading CRM for user reviews, customer satisfaction and ease of use. You can check it out for yourself or for your sales team right here. (They have one of the best pipeline management setups out of all CRM’s making it so much easier to manage sales pipelines for salespeople and sales managers)
8) Don’t sell, SOLVE – Too many sales people waste their time selling when sales rockstars are just solving problems for people with their solution. They’re not pushing the sale but reminding the customer about the problem and building the value in their solution. This might sound obvious, but so many sellers are just trying to sell products and are not focusing on the problems that they solve.
TOP TIP – Don’t forget your prospects might not even realise they have a problem. Show them what OTHER companies are doing that might be more efficient or cost effective. Sometimes you have to educate them on what problems they might have.
9) Don’t Give Up – You need to be so passionate about helping people that you’re willing to work harder than anyone else. Don’t give up at the first hurdle, don’t take their rejections personally, just know that your job is to help show them how helpful your product will be for them. Where I see most sales people giving up, sales rockstars actually keep working on the opportunity, they push further and often then win the sale.
TOP TIP – Look through any/all of your customer testimonials, recommendations and customer feedback to remind yourself just how helpful you and your product/service is! That will always give you the boost you need to push through.
10) They network HARD – It’s not just what you know but WHO you know. The elite sales pros are always networking, whether that’s online, at events, asking for referrals, with key industry professionals, their network is their netWORTH and they are always building it.
TOP TIP – Never be afraid to ask for referrals, most people are more than happy to give them. In fact nearly 91% are happy to give referrals, yet just 11% of salespeople actually ask for them.
If you can tap into those 10 areas you have the potential to unlock HUGE sales success.
What would YOU add to the list?
Add your top sales tips into the comments box and lets create a list of as many tips as possible!
This article is supported by Pipedrive, one of the world’s best CRM’s used by over 100,000+ companies in 179 countries. You can try it for free right here. The best sales managers choose Pipedrive because it is DESIGNED for sales teams and has been voted the easiest to use CRM.
They normally offer 14-day free trial but if you follow one of our links in this newsletter you’ll be able to get an extended 30-day free trial and as a bonus, if you choose to use Pipedrive after your trial, you’ll get 20% discount on your first year (that’s a pretty amazing offer if we’re honest!).
If you’re potentially interested in trying Pipedrive out, we have a few extra resources that might help:
VIDEO – The 5 best features of Pipedrive CRM
ATICLE – 10 reasons salespeople LOVE Pipedrive CRM
VIDEO – Import prospect details instantly from LinkedIn using Pipedrive
ARTICLE – Why salespeople are switching from their current CRM to Pipedrive CRM
