Graham McGregor: How to get great sales results in only ten minutes a week

Ten minutes a week could improve your sales results. Photo / 123RF

COMMENT:

A few days ago I read a helpful article on the Psychology Today Website.

The article was about ten things you can do in ten minutes or less that would have a positive emotional effect on you and those you love.

Here are two of the things in the article that caught my eye:

1. Watch "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. See it online at this link. (This is a great ten minute segment that is very uplifting and highly motivational.)
2. Take out your oldest family photo album and look through it.

The experience will fill you with fond memories and make you feel great in a few seconds.
The Psychology Today article reminded me that you can often get positive results by investing a small amount of time in the right activities.

And the same thing is true in sales and marketing.

If you invest just a small amount of time in the right activities you can often get quick improvements in your sales results.

Here's a good example:

I was having lunch a few years ago with my good friend Tom Poland. (Tom currently works with professional advisors to help them generate a regular flow of high quality leads to talk to every week.)

During our lunch we had a good chat about how we were marketing and promoting our various services to potential clients. While we chatted I gave Tom a simple pricing suggestion around one of his business services.

A few days later Tom sent me a delightful email thanking me for my suggestion.

Here is what he said: "One simple strategy you told me to do hit me like a thunderbolt. It took two minutes for me to put that idea into action and once I had done that I banked an extra $10,500 almost instantly. Not only that - the one idea you gave me I am using time and time again to bring in extra cash that I would never have had if it were not for you."

Tom's email was a great reminder that a tiny bit of action (in Tom's case about two minutes) in the right area can be highly profitable.

If you want to improve your sales results in only ten minutes a week remember two points.

Point 1: There are four keys to success in sales and marketing.

Key one is lead generation or creating an abundance of interested prospects to talk to about the products or services that you sell.

Key two is sales conversion which is turning some of these interested prospects into happy paying clients.

Key three is repeat and referral sales which can often produce 50 per cent or more of your business success.

Key four is creating a competitive advantage which will make it easy for potential clients to choose your business to spend their money with rather than your competitors business.

Point 2: Spend ten minutes each week learning something that will help you get better results in one of these four key areas.

Then put what you have learned into action.

For instance this week you might do something that stimulates more referrals in your business. Next week you might do something that attracts a few more interested prospects to talk to. And so on.

Just aim for a small improvement each week and over six to twelve months you will be amazed at the positive sales increases this will produce.

Helpful Resource:

I'd like to give you a simple strategy that you can use in less than ten minutes to encourage a number of your clients to start eagerly recommending your business to many of the people they know.

This is Ten Minute Sales Solutions Strategy One and you can get this strategy at no charge by registering at my new website.

Summary:

When you invest a small amount of time in the right activities you can often produce great results.

"You can do so much in 10 minutes' time. Ten minutes, once gone, are gone for good. Divide your life into 10-minute units and sacrifice as few of them as possible in meaningless activity." - Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA.

Action Exercise:

What could do this week in ten minutes or less to improve your sales results?

- Graham McGregor is The Ten Minute Sales Coach and helps businesses that sell a service to create higher sales and delighted clients in only ten minutes a week.
Register at his website www.TenMinuteSalesSolutions.com and Graham will give you a simple strategy that you can use in ten minutes to get a number of your clients eagerly recommending your services to many of the people they know.