Sales has always been a cut-throat business that comes easily to some and not so easily to others. But it is an indispensable element of organisations’ operations. If you don’t sell, you die – it’s as simple as that!

However, the COVID-19 crisis has introduced even more difficulties into this already challenging environment. Customers are unwilling to buy, their standards are higher and their needs have changed.

Nonetheless, many companies have managed to adapt to these new realities and find success even in such tough times.

Here are the 8 effective hacks they use to convert more sales and to improve their sales success even in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis!

1. Start with your ‘why’

To make a sale, you must perfect your value proposition. It’s not enough to know what you are selling. You must also know the why.

Does your solution resonate with your customers’ or prospects’ wants or needs? Does it solve a particular challenge for them? Help them find the answer to: Why act now?

Buyers also have to see how you stand out from other options, especially if you function in a competitive market. Can you help them with the answer to: Why us?

Finally, buyers have to believe that you can deliver on your promises. Help them answer the question: Why trust us?

2. Offer value, not just a product or service

The days of simple monetary transactions are over. Today’s customers expect a lot more from the organisations they engage with than they did in the past. For a salesperson, this means offering additional value with every transaction, and making it a priority.

Organisations that drive value for their customers generally enjoy higher sales ‘win’ rates, which translates to strong sales results, greater revenues and a more loyal customer base.

3. Grow existing accounts

It is generally easier to grow an existing account than to convert a new one. If you don’t believe that your sellers have the effective skills needed to drive account growth, you obviously have a problem. Identify the problem areas and create a plan to address them. Your customers will appreciate it and so will your bottomline!

4. Be proactive to create a ‘referral’ system

Happy customers are referring customers!

When you proactively bring new ideas to your existing customers, they will be more loyal and refer you to other opportunities. This level of trust requires building relationships and having meaningful interactions with them on a regular basis.

5. Find ways to increase salespeople productivity

Some salespeople have to make dozens or even hundreds of cold calls before they can convert a prospect into a customer and a discussion into a sale. These are the mediocre salespeople you don’t want on your team. What you do need is high-performance people who can convert sales by expending the minimal amount of effort. In other words, you need productive people.

Highly productive individuals are more likely to be top performers and to be more satisfied with their jobs. What are you doing to make your sales team more productive?

6. Find ways to improve sales manager effectiveness

A manager is only as good as his team. But a team is also only as good as his manager.

Do your sales managers inspire the best performance from their people? How much time do they spend in coaching? Do they proactively look for reasons for under-performance and find ways to address the underlying problems?

If you want your sellers to meet their sales targets and keep the sales machine going, they must be kept motivated and accountable. And for this, a competent sales manager is absolutely critical. What are you doing to improve your managers’ effectiveness?

7. Not all opportunities are the same; define your ‘pursuit intensity’ differently!

Often, sellers treat all opportunities in the same way. This is not always the right or most profitable approach.

Before pursuing an opportunity, determine whether it is worth the effort. To do this, you can use the CARE approach:

• Competitive position: Are you aware of your competition and of the advantages you have – if any – over these competitors? Can you substantiate these advantages to the customer?
• Attractiveness: Is there a potential for revenue and profit with this buyer?
• Relationship strength: Does the buyer see you as a partner or are they likely to replace you at the first opportunity?
• Effort to win: How much time, resources and money do you think you will need to invest in this opportunity?

Use this analytical approach to assess and adjust your pursuit intensity. This will give you the wherewithal to focus your energies on the best sales opportunities and thus win more of them.

8. Optimise your sales process

A majority of companies do not have a formally defined sales process. Those that do have higher proposal win rates and better conversion rates.

Define a process that works for your organisation. Make sure it is customer-focused and outlines the buying process from start to end. Include sub-processes to assign leads to the right salesperson, to manage the opportunity pipeline and to close strong.

If you follow these 8 time-tested sales strategies, you will be able to significantly improve your sales outcomes in the coming months and years.