Don’t do more, do better

January 25, 2014 at 01:00 AM
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More clients, more sales, more profit. The question is how do we get there? More calls, more email blasts from marketing, more clients, more prospects, more transactions. And more faster, too.

But more is not better; better is better. More seems easier, though, doesn't it? Want more clients, more sales and more profits? Double your activity and you're bound to increase your client count, revenue and profit.

Better clients, better sales and better profits are more difficult to achieve. Better clients are your dream clients, the ones for whom you can create breathtaking, jaw-dropping, earth-shattering value. They are the clients who appreciate you. But they already have a partner-supplier and aren't receptive, right? Making more calls isn't the answer; making better calls to better prospects is.

Better sales numbers aren't easily had by doubling down on your activity (unless you're one of those poor lost souls with too little activity and a penchant for finding useful distractions). Better sales numbers are had by performing better. This means you have to acquire some chops to make yourself a valuable addition to your dream client's team. Chops are what make you better.

Better profit margins aren't easily obtained either. You can raise your rates (and many salespeople and sales organizations should raise their too-low, trying-and-failing-by-competing-on-price rates). Higher profit margins are found by creating more value for your clients. Creating more value is difficult, and it's harder to sell your greater value to skeptical dream clients. But it's what makes you the better choice.

More of the same is just more—it's not better. The truth is if you want more, the fastest and surest way to get it is to be better than the competition.

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S. Anthony Iannarino is the managing director of B2B Sales Coach & Consultancy, a boutique sales coaching and consulting company, and an adjunct faculty member at Capital University's School of Management and Leadership. For more information, go http://thesalesblog.com/s-anthony-iannarino/

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