Five Important Tips For Field Sales Success 

Are they groundbreaking insights? No. They’re not your silver bullet - but what these insights are is a set of actionable ideas that we can never hear enough of. 

We’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below. 





Tip one: An in-depth knowledge of what you’re selling


 

In field sales - generally - the items being sold are mundane. To say that an intense passion for your product is vital is often inauthentic, and can drive personal narratives around your job that can become detrimental. 

Now, we’re not discounting passion in your job - but in field sales, it’s generally going to be a passion for helping people out, or growing your business or the company you work for and not the product itself. 

As a salesperson, it’s not your job to merely make money. You’re an informant to the customer, helping them make a buying decision that will benefit all parties. Knowing all the intricate details about the products you offer is highly advantageous.

Demonstrating genuine knowledge will help your clients trust you when it comes to making further purchases. 

I’m sure you know the ins-and-outs of what you offer, but how in-depth? Using your downtime to learn the specs, benefits and features of your products will always help you convey further value down the line. 






Tip two: Seeing the sales-cycle as a never-ending process



Making a sale isn’t the end of the sales cycle. Every good salesperson knows the importance of following up with the client and regularly checking in with no agenda. 

Following-up shows a client that you care about them more than your next commission check. It’s so easy to overlook this simple act, but you’d be surprised how often a simple follow-up doesn’t happen, especially when things get busy, and management starts to question your numbers.

The catch is that if you’re consistently following up with your clients, chances are they will make another sale sooner than expected, for a larger amount as well. It’s hard to follow up with customers when the dollar value isn’t in the near future, but it’s always worth it in the long-run. 





Tip three: A simple workflow



What does a simple workflow for someone in field sales look like? To us, it’s following a CRM that highlights the people who need to buy the most. Once you’re with the client, it’s presenting your stock beautifully, and with ease on an iPad. And then it’s placing the order to be fulfilled instantly.

It’s not running around like a headless chook, carrying heavy product books and wasting time doing paperwork. 

Working in sales can be very rewarding, and it can be stressful at the same time. That’s why we emphasised the importance of having a simple workflow that gives you the best chance of making sales with minimal friction. 

Quick plug - our app does exactly this. It makes life easy and helps you generate more sales. To our current clients, we’re always here to help make our app software work even better for you. And to anyone reading this that might be interested, you can click here for a free no-obligation demo. 





Tip four: Clearly defined targets



Clearly defined targets are paramount to your success in field sales. General and non-specific targets are dangerous for a variety of reasons. 

Firstly, you’re directionless. A big juicy target might look good, but it is realistic and clearly defined? Secondly, without clearly defined KPI’s and goals, you can’t measure the progress of your output. Bosses, you won’t know how well your staff are truly doing, and employees, you won’t be able to readily justify your output. 

How clear-cut are you numbers for the year ahead? Maybe they need to be further defined. 





Tip five: A mindset of continual improvement





How we all work in field sales can become very methodical and process-driven. This isn’t a bad thing! However, it’s important we continually look at our processes to improve them bit by bit. 

Kaizen is a Japanese term that refers to ‘change for the better’ and is a philosophy that involves continual improvements (big or small). Kaizen towards a field sales job might mean any of the following, and whatever you can come up with yourself.

• Tweaking your sales emails to read better
• Ensuring your calendar is well prepared and updated
• Gradually learning more about your customers
• Learning more about your own company
• Becoming a better listener over time

It can be anything. Every aspect of your job and how you go about it can be improved bit by bit. 

Continual and incremental improvements over time add up in a big way. 





Conclusion





What did you think about our five tips? Hopefully they sparked a few ideas of your own, and maybe help you be just that little bit better in 2020. 

As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts or recommendations for our next blog. It could be about our app or sales in general.