BY JOSIANE FEIGON
Everyone is completely overwhelmed on the social media front wondering where it begins and where it ends. Not to mention, it’s a HUGE time sink for everyone and discouraging to many when they don’t see immediate returns. But it’s actually more important to stick to and refine a social media routine over time than it is to look for something that’s going to impact ROI right now!
And that’s a lesson that applies to our whole Sales profession in the Sales 2.0 environment.
Why is a sales routine so important? Because at times like these, you cannot afford to lose your focus. Remember: the days of walking into your cubicle and slamming the phones are gone (thank god) and now you have lots more to gather. You are not just selling, you are strategizing on growing your territory, managing a virtual team to support your efforts, learning more tools and incorporating them into your sales process, reaching out via email and online, networking through social media tools, building a healthy funnel of opportunities that are converting quickly, making web or video sales presentations, and looking for strategic partners.
With all the prospecting and social data coming at salesforces today, it is easy to get paralyzed by information and not know where to begin. Getting into a routine is a great way to let habit stop you from over-thinking and over-analyzing all that info.
So what is your sales routine?
There's no time like the present to get your calendar out and organize your weekly and daily activities. Here's a sample plan:
Weekly Plan
- Build territory business plan and review it each week.
- Identify top 25 target accounts and define penetration strategy.
- Increase revenue with existing accounts by cross-selling and up-selling.
- Include a 2-hour, non-negotiable proactive daily calling blitz.
- Build a robust email tool kit to include up to 7 touches per prospect.
- Figure out 7 new things to send to prospects that are different and builds your value and reason for contacting them.
- Include strong subject lines that get results.
- Send introductions to 25 new accounts.
- Schedule at least 2 web or video presentations per week.
- Weekly strategy calls with virtual team. Build and update your pipeline.
- Clean dirty data in SFDC.
- Schedule networking lunch with 2 centers of influence per week.
- Build up LinkedIn profile- get more connections and participate in discussions.
- Follow up on deals in pipeline.
About The Author
Josiane Feigon is author of Smart Sales Manager and the best-selling Smart Selling on the Phone and Online. She is a pioneer, maverick, and visionary in the inside sales community. A 20-year veteran of the industry, she is the founder of TeleSmart Communications. Since 1994, this San Francisco-based solutions provider has been a leader in developing inside sales teams and managers. Josiane is recognized among the Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Professionals and as a leading expert on inside sales team and management talent. Her thought leadership blog is ranked in the Top 50 Sales blogs by SalesCrunch. Connect with her on Twitter and YouTube!