10 Ways to Create Your Own Sales Performance Luck

7175331883_80d3ebae45_cHave you ever wondered how lucky reps breeze by their targets as sales fall into their laps?

The success a “lucky” rep enjoys has nothing to do with horseshoes, rabbit’s feet or four-leaf clovers.

This St. Patrick’s Day, we dismiss myths about being lucky when it comes to sales and share 10 ways you can create your own luck and accelerate your success.

Lucky Rep Myth #1: Lucky reps just get lucky.

Truth: Successful sales leaders use more than gut instinct and luck to create their lead lists and guide their dialing decisions; they use predictive and prescriptive analytics. Sales technology platforms built on predictive analytics offer tools to score leads and prescriptively sort the more relevant leads in a rep’s dialer. At XANT, our patented predictive analytics engine can drive as much as a 30% increase in revenue in as little as 30 days.

 Lucky Rep Myth #2: Lucky reps just happen to call their prospects on a good day.

Truth: Reps armed with the best data know what day of the week to call their prospects.  Our research shows that for most industries, Wednesdays and Thursdays promise 49.7 percent higher contact ratios than Tuesdays.

 Lucky Rep Myth #3: Lucky reps call when their leads just happen to be in the office.

Truth: Reps who use data to guide their dials know the best time to reach their contacts, and rely on predictive analytics to pull those numbers to the top of their dialers. Our 2014 Lead Management Study tells reps the best time to call prospects is between 4 and 6 p.m. Calls in that window have a 114 percent greater rate of contact than calls made right after lunchtime. 8 a.m. is the second best time to make a call.

 Lucky Rep Myth #4: Lucky reps don’t get their calls screened.

Truth: Smart reps rely on technology like LocalPresence to make sure they have more conversations, not just more dials. When a call comes in from an unknown area code, your prospects are more likely to screen the call. Increase your contact rates up to 38 percent by using phone numbers local to the U.S. metropolitan areas you are calling.

 Lucky Rep Myth #5: Lucky reps magically call their prospects at just the right time.

Truth: Successful reps know when to call their prospects. Email tracking technology offers data-driven insights that cue reps into real-time buying signals. When you get a notification that a prospect just opened an email you sent or downloaded a link you suggested, you can call that prospect, confident you are currently on their mind and they are ready to learn more about the solutions you offer.

 Lucky Rep Myth #6: Lucky reps connect with their contacts on the first call.

Truth: Reps who work hard and meet or exceed their quotas are pleasantly persistent. They know it takes at least six calls, and often more,  to the same prospect to dramatically increase contact ratios. Our data finds that the average sales rep only makes 1.41 call attempts before giving up.

 Lucky Rep Myth #7: Lucky reps just happen to get the best leads.

Truth: The top sales reps know how to make their clients work for them by asking for referrals. Dale Carnegie’s research found that 91 percent of customers say they’d give referrals, but only 11 percent of salespeople ask for them.

 Lucky Rep Myth #8: Lucky reps don’t need to network.

Truth: Forbes reports that 78 percent of salespeople using social media outsell their peers.

 Lucky Rep Myth #9: Lucky reps don’t have to deal with the same time wasters as unlucky reps.

Truth: Successful reps maximize their time by taking advantage of automated voicemail and email technologies. In a recent webinar, inside sales expert Gabe Larsen explained that automated voicemail management systems can save reps up to 29.333 productive hours each month.

 Lucky Rep Myth #10: Lucky reps never lose clients.

Truth: The best sales reps know that they must handle their clients with care. Successful reps regularly reach out to their clients, ensuring they continue to provide value long after the deal closes.

In the world of selling, luck occurs when data-driven preparation meets opportunity. Like Thomas Jefferson said, “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”

Hoping to just “get lucky” puts your fate out of your control. Keep your fate and luck in your own hands and accelerate your success.

Check out the ebook below for more ideas on how to work smarter and get luckier in sales.

Turn Cold Calls Into Hot Leads with Referral Selling

Free eBook: Turn Cold Calls Into Hot Leads with Referral Selling

Featuring Joanne Black, Founder of No More Cold Calling.

Image Credit: JD Hancock

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