working sales opportunities

Are You Looking Past the Next Sale?

I find most b2b sales are only focused upon the immediate sale opportunity coming their way. Is this the way you look at sales opportunities?

The best sales people – including the b2b sales superstars – have a longer time horizon. They look at the next sale as the first step in a series of sales opportunities.

In fact, I have a friend who is always telling me how he looks at every customer with a three year INITIAL time line in mind. If the customer appears to be a one sale only – he passes on the opportunity. Could you do that?

What factors are in play to cause you to want to look into the future when evaluating a potential sales opportunities? Let’s take a look at what I’ve learned…

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Opportunity Plans – Questions to Ask Yourself

Whenever I get into a situation where my b2b sales pipeline is getting a little slow, I know it is time to begin thinking about where are my current opportunities. As I make a list of potential targets – both current customers and targeted prospects – I’m looking for the best opportunities.

Now, best opportunities actually depends upon your current level of business.

If you have little business or are new to b2b sales, then you need a strong – qualified is best – list of potential customers to focus your efforts.

If you have a current book of business and just need a pick me up of new opportunities to fill your sales pipeline, then include current customers with expansion opportunities as well as some prospects – again, targeted and qualified prospects are much better than random list of names.

Okay, back to the topic today. Your need a structure of targeted questions for each company placed on your targeted opportunity list. And, here are the best four to use…

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