4 Ways to Increase Your Sales Productivity by 243%


increase sales

If you’re like many small business owners, selling is the least favorite part of what you do.

What if you knew there was an easy way to make it way more likely that when you call a potential sales prospect, you’d get a call back?

According to a study by Reachable, having a personal connection with someone — even an indirect connection, such as a mutual acquaintance or colleague — makes that person five times more likely to call you back.

If you have a direct connection with the person, the odds get even better. Your chances of getting a return call increase elevenfold.

Let’s put this another way.

For every 1,000 calls you make, only 345 will get returned if you don’t have a connection with the person.

But if you do have a connection, 849 calls will be returned.

Overall, Reachable found that personal connections increased sales productivity by an incredible 243 percent.

We all know sales is a numbers game, and no one likes making 1,000 calls. But knowing you could get the majority of those 1,000 calls returned makes calling a lot more appealing, doesn’t it?

So how can you and your sales team create the personal connections that make it easier to make the sale?

Here are four ideas to develop and leverage personal connections and increase your sales:

  1. Start a referral program. Asking your satisfied customers for referrals is a great way to build a pipeline of warm leads with whom you have a connection. Create a system for regularly requesting referrals at a point after you’ve delivered the goods and know your customer is happy with the job you’ve done.
  2. Spread the word. Let your colleagues and business associates know you’re looking for new prospects. Keep them up to date on the types of projects you’re doing, areas you’re looking to expand into or new skills you and your team are developing. LinkedIn is an especially good tool for staying top of mind with corporate or business clients and colleagues. Post regular updates and you can gently let your connections know what you’re doing without being pushy about it.
  3. Get out there and meet people. Reachable studied all kinds of connections, including those made by social media or email. At some point, though, you need to make the connection in person. We’re all more likely to respond to someone we’ve actually met, or someone who knows someone we’ve actually met. That’s just the way we’re wired. Get and stay involved in organizations, associations and networking events that bring you into face-to-face contact with the right kinds of prospects and get results for you.
  4. Harness CRM technology. There are more CRM tools than ever today. Many are robust, yet simple enough for even the smallest businesses to benefit from. Set up a CRM system and (this is key) actually use it. You’ll have a record of your business’s connections that anyone on your team can use. That way your whole company can leverage relationships.


Sales Photo via Shutterstock

8 Comments ▼

Rieva Lesonsky Rieva Lesonsky is a Columnist for Small Business Trends covering employment, retail trends and women in business. She is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a media company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Visit her blog, SmallBizDaily, to get the scoop on business trends and free TrendCast reports.

8 Reactions
  1. When connecting to other people it’s important to remember that each connection isn’t equal in value. If you can connect with the most connected people, those 5 new connections can put you 1 level from hundreds or thousands of new people. So while you’re trying to connect with everyone, put a little extra attention toward reaching super connected people.

  2. Spread the word! That’s my favorite item in this list.

  3. It’s great to see that there is a renewed interest in technologies such as, PPM office suites and CRM integration. Productivity management tools embedded in business suites, is a crucial element for the long term growth of a business. As an employee of GreenRope, I have witnessed the many beneficial affects and opportunities given to businesses utilizing such tools.

  4. Thanks everyone for your comments.
    It sometimes just boggles my mind how much easier technology makes our lives.

  5. I think another great way would be to think about creative ways you can leverage your current customer base to get access to their sphere’s of influence. There are many ways to go about this depending on what business you are in, and what you are selling.

  6. These are super ideas, thank you! I think that “harnessing technology” is going to become increasingly important in getting connections. Learning how to correctly use the social media out there (although bewildering) is key to building trust and reaching new prospects.