Gertjan Scholts on LinkedIn: In sales you never know when the opportunity becomes reality. This means… (2024)

Happy EARTH day all!We all share the responsibility keeping the planet our clean home. It’s a perfect ‘excuse’ to reach out to prospects and customers alike today. Whether it is energy transition, plastic reduction or carbon reductions, a conversation that leads to a new sales opportunity is worth 2 minutes of our time today.

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I regularly ask buyers what they appreciate most in sellers. Here are the three most common answers:- They appreciate sellers asking insightful and challenging questions. - They value sellers that listen to understand, rather than to answer. - They appreciate sellers who deliver solutions. If you agree with the above, here you have the sales strategy to recruit, train and motivate your sales team to success!

If you are one of those sales people that finds new customers, sells to them and retains them, I salute you.You are valuable to all growth organisations because you offer a 360 degrees sales solution for start ups and other companies that have pressed the growth button. Sales people like you are hard to find.Your prospecting skills and effort are as remarkable as your ability to mentally deal with rejection: 100 cold calls, give 10 conversations and 1 sale. That is amazing and will deliver 2 or more sales a week, every week. Persistency pays.The way you discover customer pain-points and help them to take action is proof of your excellent understanding of sales. You hold on to customers developing the relationship and have become a trusted adviser they will go back to for more time and again. It shows you are constantly creating value in the customer's eyes.Don't worry if you have not mastered these amazing skills yet. They can be learned when trained by people like me.I learned my sales trade as a 360 degrees sales person too. If your team need a motivational solid sales refresher and make more sales, get in touch today.

When a new salesperson joined the team I currently support as sales coach, let's call him Alex, he was eager to prove himself, armed with ambition and a hunger for success.CRM data revealed that, on average, it took 62 days to close a deal. He saw it as a challenge, a benchmark to surpass. We caught up most weeks seeking ways to bring in that first deal.And sure enough, after weeks of hard work and dedication, he sealed the deal that would mark his first triumph.His secret? A positive attitude, unwavering faith in his abilities, and a dash of perseverance.As the team celebrated his success, Alex knows that this was just the beginning of his journey. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to see success like his and I am lucky to have played a small part in it.CRM data is insightful, yet when it helps sales people build their confidence and win more, it is just awesome.Agree?

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Understanding the shape of your sales team's sales funnel is key to unlocking success. It's not just a reflection of your team's efforts, but also a result of your leadership strategy.A well-crafted strategy involves careful selection, thorough training, and continuous motivation of your salespeople, leading to an ideal sales funnel shape that aligns with your business goals. That is the funnel on the left in this picture.However, without structured training and support, you may encounter challenges, with a blockage in the sales funnel being a common hurdle. It is the middle funnel in the picture. This occurs when salespeople fail to fully qualify prospects, particularly in areas like timeline, budget, or decision-making process. Addressing this requires targeted sales training to keep the funnel flowing smoothly.Moreover, neglecting self-lead generation can create a vulnerability in your strategy. If your team relies solely on external leads, any dry spell in lead sources can lead to a drying up of sales. This puts immense pressure on constantly sourcing new leads, resulting in an inconsistent, feast-or-famine sales funnel shape. It's illustrated in the right funnel in the picture.If your sales results are not enough and you need to press the growth button, help is at hand. Whether you need help analysing why sales are not what they should be, planning action to address sales funnel shape issues or hands-on help to bring the funnel back in shape, I am here for you now!Reach out today and start unblocking your sales funnel, create new leads and start the sales flow again.

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Sharing to my network. Anton is a top bloke to have in the team.

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Here is a real story illustrating the absolute need to dig deep into customer's motivation to buy. It happened this week, but I changed the client's name.As Easter approached, Jonathan, the head of GreenTech Solutions, wanted to close as much business as possible before the break. In one case he faced a common problem. Crown Industries, one of their top clients, thought their eco-friendly solution was too expensive and wanted a big discount.Not willing to lose out on profits, Jonathan dug deeper. He remembered something about the decision-maker's partner liking their top-of-the-line product.At their next call, Jonathan casually asked, "What does your partner think about our solution?"The decision-maker's face softened. He talked about how his partner loved GreenTech's focus on sustainability.Jonathan saw his chance. He talked up the shared values between their company and Crown Industries.In the end, the decision-maker agreed to the original price. As sales leaders, we have to encourage our sales people to ask more questions before giving answers.Happy Easter all!

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One more day to rock us out of q1, March and the week. Drop the emails, pick up the phone or go and see your prospects!Why?The last month I have been in the market to make a £15k purchase in a field I have no experience in. To be frank, the amount of email sequences and follow ups I must be in since I asked for quotations triggered email that has been pressurising me. Unpleasant in some cases. My decision making process helping what to go for, started to be driven by the way I was treated as a prospective customer rather than solution fit and pricing. Crazy!Just 1 organisation showed personalised attention taking my requirements as a starting point. Dealing with real people heavily invested in their value proposition made all the difference. A phone call filled with common courtesy and pertinent questions helping me to select the right solution. They will get my business. If you have deals to close, pick up the phone and speak to your prospect as a human to another. You will get the deal 👍

Good morning! Wonderful opportunities with natural time lines are coming together this week. They are here, no matter you are in B2B short, medium or long cycle sales. Another week is ahead to achieve what we are paid to do. It is the last week of the month to achieve targets. Here is the last week of the quarter to achieve Q1 2024 targets. The final week to close off the last fiscal quarter of the year is here. It is the last week to close deals in 2024 before the clocks go forward. Last week to win deals before the 2024 Easter break. How many more reasons do we need to make this week ours?Let’s give it our all, motivate ourself and eachother to achieve beyond our own expectations!

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