After my graduation from the University of Benin some nine years ago, I have always feared any job that has to do with sales and marketing, but i have come to realise that generally in life everyone is selling or marketing something. When I worked first as a teacher, I discovered I had to sell by trying to get the school more students from the locality. When I ventured into journalism I found out also that apart from writing stories and covering events I still needed to sell advert spaces in the online newspaper to increase the revenue base of the media house. Then when I became a Personal assistant to a government aide, I also had to sell the image and programmes of my boss and the government to target audiences.
A groom that wants a wife must have something he sold to the bride to make her accept to wed him. Even our politicians are selling their manifestos persuading the people to buy their agenda. We are continuously in this world selling one thing or the other. It can be our skills, experiences, products, ideas or knowledge.
Therefore, for people to buy what you are selling you must have a selling point and then things to look out for. So, whether you work in sales in the Media, Real Estate, Fast Consumer Moving Goods (FCMG), e-commerce, entertainment, fashion, Tech, etc there are some key performance index (KPIs) you should watch out for as a salesman or person in 2023.
1.) Achievement of sales targets: As a salesperson one of the KPIs to watch out for in 2023 is your achievement of monthly sales targets. At least if you can’t do 80%, 70 is not a bad performance. Ability to achieve individual and overall team targets is crucial.
2.) Translate your sales prospects to bring in cash– You have not sold until you translate your sales prospects to give you cash in exchange for what you are offering and recover all outstanding debts from your customers. It is a must your sales should translate into cash, revenue & profitability for the business.
3.) You must be innovative in managing people– you must be prudent in managing people in your sales team, your customers, and your resources and keep everyone well motivated as possible. In addition, be proactive about carving out new sales territories/ audiences to dominate.
4.) Communicate Properly & promptly – You must be ready to communicate appropriately and promptly to your customers prices, promotions and offerings. Take out you time to do this effectively, people love freebies and discounts, so be prepared to also communicate this.
5.) Foresee the impossible – As a sales person be prepared to handle controversies, theft, in-house conflicts, resignations, sack, work reviews, stiff competition, etc. Anything can happen, it is good to always have a back up plan. Again, you have to stay up to date with product knowledge, industry trends and what have you.
6.) Ability to work flexible hours– As a salesperson, you must be willing to work odd hours/ schedules including weekends and public holidays to ensure you meet targets. As a salesperson there are several public holidays I had to report at the office or meet some strategic prospects. It was hectic, but like they say nothing is easy in life. You just have to encourage yourself and be passionate.
Finally, you must have a customer centric attitude. You must be ready to handle customer escalations and resolve issues or complaints in a professional and timely manner.
Remember, the customer is KING. A salesperson must also be able to build and maintain a strong relationship with customers to drive repeat purchase or generate referrals.
I believe with these I have been able to share my little knowledge on sales with you? I will be happy to hear from you soon. Cheers to a better selling experience in the remaining quarters of 2023.
Happy selling!!
Bonaventure Osagie is a Sales Manager at Hayat Kimya Abuja. He can reached on Twitter at @storiesosagie