SalesMotivation.net

by Dan Coughlin, author of ACCELERATE: 20 Practical Lessons to Boost Business Momentum

Take the last sale you made and analyze it. Who did you sell your products or services to? How did you find that person? How did you find the person who referred you to your new customer? Keep working backwards and retrace all the steps it took to get you to the sale.

Retracing one project.

I’m doing a keynote speech at the Seaport Hotel in Boston for a company called National Quality Review. This is their annual customer conference, and I’m speaking on “Accelerating the Dynamics of Quality” and then a breakout session on “Accelerate Your Impact as a Leader.”

How did I meet Josh and Catherine who ultimately hired me? I was introduced to them by the Community Relations Manager at Barnes & Noble in Boston, a woman named Gina.

How did Gina get my name?

I sent a quarter-sheet cake with the cover of my new book, ACCELERATE, on it in full-color icing to all of the Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores within 25 miles of New York City, within 50 miles of Chicago, and within 50 miles of Washington, DC. I then visited 107 bookstores in those three cities plus my hometown of St. Louis. I met a man named Patrick, who is the Community Relations Manager at a Barnes & Noble in New York City. He’s good friends with Gina in Boston. I had a keynote speech earlier this year at the Marriott in downtown Boston for a company called SolidWorks. They wanted to order 300 copies of my book to give out to all the attendees. So I e-mailed Patrick and he gave me Gina’s name. On the same day the order came in, the folks at National Quality Review asked Gina if she knew of any business speakers who could speak to their group. Gina introduced me to Josh.

Where did I get the idea for the cakes?

When my book was nearing completion I was looking for a fun way to thank my publisher so I sent them a cake with the name of the book on it. They loved it, so I decided to try it with the bookstores.

Where did I get the contract for the book? Two years ago I wrote a book proposal for a book about all the lessons I’ve learned while working with executives in over thirty industries. It took six months to get a contract for that book, and then 15 more months to publish that book.

So the sale I made to Josh and Catherine began two years ago. Was it worth all that effort? I would say yes because not only did that sale happen, but I’m also doing a keynote for the American Bar Association, a session for the top 75 leaders of the Industrial Assets Management Council, and several breakouts sessions for BookWise at their first ever international conference. Long-term thinking and preparation has a way of generating sales over the long term.

See the power of long-term thinking.

If you’re obsessed with making a sale every day, you may miss out on building the engine that generates lots of sales. Many times sales people make a big sale, and then they get frustrated when another big sale doesn’t happen right away. They forget the steps it took to make the big sale. I encourage you to retrace those steps. Usually you will find that you did a lot of small things that resulted in a big sale. Today focus on doing those small things that will eventually add up to something extraordinary.

Work backward and forward.

After you’ve retraced the lives of a few of your best sales, look into the future and map out the steps you will have to take to create the future sales you want. Write down all those steps so you can see the long-term, big picture of what will produce the sales you want. Then focus on implementing each step that may be necessary to generate the types of sales you want.

Study the massive sales makers.

Apple Inc. is hot to trot right now. Their iPods, iPhones, and iMacs are selling at historic rates and generating amazing revenue. However, it was just seven years ago that they were considered a niche computer maker. They went from the side stream to the main stream, but it didn’t happen over night. Starting in 1997 they made a host of decisions to simplify their business, tighten their focus, and enhance their distribution channels. They worked relentlessly to make better computers and better MP3 players.

If you trace the life of sales with any major company, you soon will see the enormous number of details that were implemented well before the sales came flowing in. In recalling your own sales history, I hope you will continually relearn the critical importance of patience, perseverance, and innovation.

Keep striving, keep adding more value, and remember the power of long-term thinking.

About Dan Coughlin

Visit Dan at www.businessacceleration.com. Dan Coughlin is a business keynote speaker, management consultant, and author of Accelerate: 20 Practical Lessons to Boost Business Momentum. He has been quoted in USA Today, the New York Times, and Investor’s Business Daily. Dan’s clients include Coca-Cola, Toyota, Boeing, Marriott, McDonald’s, AT&T, American Bar Association, the St. Louis Cardinals, and organizations in over thirty industries.