7 Life Hacks to Beat Your Sales Goals It's time to change your approach.
By Marc Wayshak Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Are you overwhelmed by selling, but underwhelmed by your sales results? Making small tweaks to your professional and personal life can make a huge difference. In fact, you can dramatically increase your sales by implementing just a few high-impact changes, at home and at work.
Check out these seven proven life hacks for consistently beating your sales goals—without adding to your stress level. Make these powerful habits part of your daily routine to start crushing your sales goals today:
1. Rethink your to-do list. This might sound controversial, but to-do lists almost can lead to procrastination. If you're like most salespeople, then you have an ongoing list of items to complete. Most of those items probably get carried over to the next day—and the next day, and the next.
Why does this happen? To-do lists are overwhelming: They lack specific deadlines and quickly take on a life of their own. Instead of constantly adding to a list of jobs that never get done, use a calendar app to create a time-bound plan for your daily tasks. Choose a specific day when you'll accomplish each task, write it down, and commit to completing it that day. Adhering to daily task deadlines will help you set more meeting in sales, connect with more prospects, and ultimately make more sales.
2. Take baby steps. Many salespeople make the mistake of thinking that huge goals are the key to success. Although big dreams have their time and place, the small steps you take each day are what actually get you to the finish line. Success in sales is all about taking baby steps, over and over again. Consistently accomplishing small daily objectives—like asking for referrals or making 20 cold calls every day—will lead to an enormous increase in sales over time.
3. Hold yourself accountable. No matter how good your intentions are, sometimes you stray from your commitments. It's just human nature. That's why accountability is crucial for sticking to daily objectives—and closing more sales. It's time to seek out peer accountability. Find someone else who's committed to improving their sales results and support one another. Hold each other's feet to the fire to ensure you both stick to your daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals.
4. Find a mentor. Stop trying to figure it all out on your own! Instead, find a successful person who can help show you the ropes. In both your personal and professional life, a mentor can help guide you through challenges and give you support to go after your goals. Don't be afraid to reach out and ask for help—you'd be surprised how many people are willing to share their wisdom and help you on your journey to success.
5. Eliminate static. Take a moment to consider some tasks you can eliminate from your daily life. What are two non-productive activities in your professional or personal routine that you can eliminate each day? Searching the internet throughout the day, going on Facebook, checking emails constantly—stuff like this wastes an untold amount of time. If you can find just two 15-minute activities to eliminate from your routine, you'll add 30 minutes of productivity to each day. That's 2.5 extra hours a week to focus on closing more sales than ever before.
6. Live outside your comfort zone. If you want to transform your sales results, you must spend more time outside your comfort zone. For example, most salespeople are comfortable calling buyers or product managers, but they're intimidated by the thought of calling high-level CEOs. But those high-level prospects are where you'll find bigger budgets and decision-making power. Seek out bigger opportunities and before long, you'll consistently perform at a higher level.
7. Never stop learning. Constantly look for ways to grow and develop yourself. Become a dedicated student and learn everything you possibly can about your craft. It's time to move beyond reading a book here and there. Instead, read every book you can get your hands on, listen to audiobooks on your commute, download eBooks from leaders in your industry, watch relevant videos, and enroll in online courses to transform your selling approach. If you do, you'll be able to offer more value, increase sales, and close bigger deals.
