5 . FOCUS ON HIGH PAYOFF ACTIVITIES ( HPAS )
Focusing on HPAs will help you generate more business with less work . “ The overwhelming majority of owners , CEOs , and business leaders are not in the right column ,” Daly said . “ You ’ re spending too much of your time on things that are not going to give you the greatest return on investment . Be very protective . Your time is money .” Not only should you identify your HPAs but you should also identify what your salespeople ’ s HPAs are . “ Identify what the high payoff activities are for a salesperson ,” Daly said . “ Anything a salesperson is doing that is not an HPA — get rid of it . If you could do this and move this person to spend 100 % of their time [ on their HPAs ], you have the opportunity to double your sales without adding another human being to your organization .” Three ways to get rid of the non-HPAs are to get somebody else inside the company to do it , hire someone outside the company to do it , or just stop doing it .
6 . DIFFERENTIATE YOUR COMPANY FROM EVERYONE ELSE
In Daly ’ s sales training , he frequently hears sales representatives say the reason people should do business with their company is that they are experienced , knowledgeable , competitive , and deliver good customer service . These are poor reasons because , as he points out , your competitor will say the same thing . Therefore , it ’ s crucial to figure out how you are uniquely better and different from everyone else , then make sure your salespeople know this , too . “ You don ’ t think [ your competitors ] are going to come in and say , ‘ We don ’ t have any experience . Nobody knows anything here . Our service sucks . We ’ re the highest price ,’” he said . “ If you don ’ t know how to differentiate your company to make it easy for me to choose you , then how are your salespeople supposed to do that ?”
The above tips have contributed to small organizations growing into some of the most successful , largest , and wealthiest . But for them to work for your organization , you ’ ve got to do them . Remember that every organization starts with just one person . To build a world-class business , get the right people in place and build a sales team . If you made a mistake with whom you ’ ve hired , the first thing to do is clean house of the people who don ’ t belong there . Hire slow and fire fast . And because the best salespeople are happy where they are , always keep a list of good salespeople and actively be recruiting by courting them . Create attractive bonuses for employees who refer a good salesperson and develop exciting sales contests — weekly , monthly , and quarterly — to incentivize them to sell more . “ These things will really move the needle ,” Daly says . “ But for this to work , you ’ ve got to take action .”
For more tips from Jack Daly , check out the resources at JackDalySales . com .
Jack Daly is a leading sales speaker and trainer with over 30 years of sales and executive experience . Jack ’ s track record is a testament to his real-world knowledge and extensive expertise in sales and sales management . He started his professional journey at CPA firm Arthur Andersen and rose to the CEO level of several corporations , building six companies into national firms along the way , two of which he subsequently sold to the Wall Street firms of Solomon Brothers and First Boston .
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