Sales is not a numbers game. I hear this from managers all the time, “If we make so many calls, we get a certain percentage of meetings, and from there, some percentage of opportunities close.” This common misunderstanding may be retarding your company’s, and more importantly, your personal growth.

• Event Statistics: When conducting marketing events, track the number of meetings you get from your initial event, then measure how many are dead ends after a first call, how many close, and how many seem to enter an endless sales cycle. If you have something that is essential to the average prospect, improving your sales skills will increase your close ratio.

• Unqualified Leads: When the first meeting seems to be a dead end, don’t assume it is an unqualified lead. Mark companies as unqualified when they just can’t use what you sell, or are too small (or too big) for the type of business you pursue. Everyone else should be considered qualified and on your long term list. Once again, improving your selling skills will increase your close ratio.

• Problem Clients: Every sales person has problem clients – clients that are difficult to deal with. If you have enough business without them, it may be more profitable to fire that client. However, you can’t blame a lost deal or contract cancellation on the customer. Instead, learn to work with problem people. Sometimes they will become your greatest advocate.

The Bottom Line: Selling requires talent. If your business is purely transactional, such as a retail store; mass marketing and strong branding is your road to attracting customers. Customer service will retain them. In high-involvement selling, your intellectual capital, personal branding, and ability to solve business problems, are you primary attributes. This is not a numbers game, but rather a requirement for attracting new partners, referrals, and long term clients.

Time is a key resource; frequently wasted.

• Todd Duncan, author of Time Traps, tells us that most sales people are spending no more than 90 minutes selling per day – what would happen if you spent 180?

• If you’re consuming too much time keeping up with new product sheets, email, and proposals – you may be wasting your energy. Prioritize this time so that you spend more of it studying sales and marketing, and leave product details to presales support experts. Filter mail that isn’t important. Wait until deals are ready to sign before writing the proposal.

• Use pockets of time. In a single day I find myself waiting for meetings, sitting in airport lounges, and driving to hotels. My laptop now has broadband capabilities and so I travel with a to-do list. The plan is to work during these pockets of time by showing up at meetings a few minutes early, working in airport clubs where it’s quiet (it’s worth the price to join if you fly often), or by using a limo service instead of driving myself when there’s thirty minutes or more of travel time. Find your pockets and start using them.

• Not all breaks are refreshing. If you are working frantically, you’re probably not producing at maximum potential. If you take a break and spend it in a stressful way, you will not be refreshed. Schedule breaks when you are overwhelmed, tired, or at a high point of stress. Plan to spend that time doing something refreshing (e.g. taking a walk, listening to classical music, calling a friend, writing a thank you note, or enjoying a cup of herb tea). Loud music, television, caffeine, nicotine, and reading the paper do not bring restoration.

Just about every legitimate sales book out there counsels sales people to avoid RFPs. I recently received a fairly lengthy RFP that was sent to numerous sales trainers. It proffered a potentially widespread opportunity to train sales people across the US. Is this a test to see who will respond just as the instructions read? Anyone who does respond with a written proposal should be automatically disqualified from the process. (If you’re not sure why – reread Michael Bosworth’s excellent book, Solution Selling.)

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Please pass this on to anyone you know who is working to build a profitable solutions business today. Consider having David Stelzl speak at your next quarterly meeting or customer event. Create a value proposition that positions you as the expert and attracts new clients. Consider hiring a professional coach to accelerate the process.