This presentation highlights sales lessons from 2013!

1. 10 Sales Lessons from 2013
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*Via Business Matters
Disclaimer: This presentation and the information provided here is indicative in nature and
should not be treated as views of the organization.
Meet Goals, Beat Competition, Exceed Expectations
AAyuja © 2013

2. 1
Prospect Continuously
If 2013 taught you nothing else, it taught
you that you can’t always rely on your
existing customers to hit your sales
targets.
Prospecting should be done on a continuous basis, not
just when you’re quiet.
Existing customers are always looking for
ways to cut costs in their businesses –
and maybe you and your product or
service were one of those costs?

3. 2
Control The Sales Cycle
2013 highlighted the need for the sales
reps to control the sales process more
than ever before.
It was the year where customers started asking for quotes
regularly, but then didn’t seem to proceed with the order
quite as fast.
In many cases prospects want to know
the price of the product and they take
time for approval. Taking the control of
sales process helps reps in getting the
expected outcome efficiently rather
running around with very little reward.

4. 3
Know More About The Competition
2013 showed us that we have to be
sharper in this arena. Many companies
were finding increased competition
when trying to sell their products or
services, and often this was happening in
existing accounts as well!
If you truly want to be able to sell against your competition,
you’d better know them – inside and out.
Knowing who your competitors are, what
they are offering can not only help you to
outsell them again and again but also
assess how successful you can be against
your competition.

5. 4
Write A Sales Plan
A sales plan will helps you to achieve
targeted sales and monitor sales
performance.
Start your year off well and get a written sales plan in
place, right now.
Without a proper sales plan in place,
most people will miss opportunities that
they could have converted, and miss
other opportunities they weren’t even
aware of.
AAyuja Internal and Confidential © 2012

6. 5
Examine Your Selling Level
Directors and owners started taking
more interest in exactly where the
company’s money was being spent. Sales
reps that were selling at user or manager
level found that decisions were going
above.
2013 was the year that purchasing and sign-off
responsibility shifted somewhat.
This means that all the sales reps that
were selling at user or manager level
found that decisions we’re going above –
and that they weren’t coming back as
positively or as quickly as previously
might have happened.
AAyuja Internal and Confidential © 2012

7. 6
Ask Better Questions
If your prospects and clients are looking
at other vendors, and your phone calls
and meetings are conducted knowing
you’re not the only supplier they’re
talking to, one of the biggest things that
will differentiate you is your questioning
ability.
If you or your team are still asking mainly fact-find
questions of prospects you’re calling or going to see,
then you’ll probably be one of the first to be left behind
in 2014.
AAyuja Internal and Confidential © 2012

8. 7
Look At Who’s Involved
Businesses
have
re-engineered
themselves and their business offerings
over the last few months and for some
companies that’s meant re-shuffling their
staff and their responsibilities.
who’s making the calls to try and get appointments for the
field sales team? Or how about the incoming sales enquiries?
This is worth looking at closely from a
sales point of view however, as we want
to make sure you aren’t losing any
opportunities through any re-structuring
or re-organization.
AAyuja Internal and Confidential © 2012

9. 8
Don’t Miss Existing Opportunities
2013 taught us that far too many people
took their existing customers for granted.
Never forget that your customers could
well be on your competitors prospect
list.
Are you working to increase your number of contacts in
each of your clients? Are you on top of every single
potential opportunity?
Are you regularly in touch with all your
existing customers? Are you up-to-speed
on what their plans are for the next few
months as they re-focus their
businesses?
AAyuja Internal and Confidential © 2012

10. 9
Focus On Your Pipeline
2013 was the year that whoever was in
charge of the sales team realized how
lazy they’d become.
When was the last time you had a sales meeting in your
company out of interest?
Focus your energy on the prospects that
are really winnable in the sales pipeline.
Feed your sales pipeline with a constant
flow of new opportunities which is a key
indicator of quota attainment.
AAyuja Internal and Confidential © 2012

11. 10
Work On Your Sales Skills
2013 taught us that many of the basic sales skills that are
needed for success in a sales role had been taken for
granted.
Improve your selling skills to understand
buyer empowerment as prospects are
taking longer to make decisions, higher
level decision makers are getting
involved, return on investment needs to
be proved at every stage, more
competitors are involved in every sale
and prospects are looking to negotiate all
your profit out of every deal.
Last year was the year where sales skills
mattered far more than in previous
years.
AAyuja Internal and Confidential © 2012