Membership Overview
Learn what being a member does for you
The Seller Styles
NASP Programs
Catalog
See a summary of all our programs and certifications
Online Certifications
Certified Professional Sales Person(CPSP®)
Develop your potential as a certified sales professional
Certified Professional Sales Leader(CPSL®)
Grow your impact as a certified sales leader
Certified Master Sales Professional (CMSP®)
Join the elite group of sales professionals and leaders
Certified Master Sales Trainer (CMST®)
Online Programs
Advanced Sales Influence (ASI)
Take your influence and leadership to the next level.
Certified Professional Sales Associate (CPSA®)
Learn foundational sales behaviors, strategies, and skills
Power of Contact Marketing
Learn from marketing expert and author Stu Heinecke
ProSeries Programs
Join the top 1% of sales professionals in the world.
Next Level Virtual Coaching
Sales Mastery
Join our ongoing dynamic virtual coaching community
Career Center
Explore job postings from some of the best companies in the country looking for sales professionals
Training Resources
Daily Dose of Influence!
Enjoy our video series of influence tips and strategies
Leads To Growth
Dig into our podcast featuring industry leaders and experts
Coaches Corner
Learn from our high-level sales coaching video series
Women of Sales & Influence – Facebook Live Series
Be inspired by our Facebook Live series spotlighting top women influencers
Women of Sales & Influence – Video Blog
Enjoy valuable, high-level sales strategies to empower your sales goals
Sales Resources
The Growth Quotient
You’ve heard about IQ, but what is your GQ?
Our Commitment to You
We are here to help your approach to sales, how you interact with others, and how you perform and execute
Articles
NASP Sales Blog
Learn from our member-submitted articles for sales professionals
About Our CEO
Standards of Conduct
Testimonials
Common Questions and Answers
Contact
by Thomas Phelps
How to Improve Sales: It seems that most people look for secrets or shortcuts to success and some are willing to try almost anything, regardless of how preposterous, to earn more money. For those is sales, earning more money usually requires selling more.
Simple as that. No secrets, no shortcuts but a real, viable and reasonable way to earn more money.
Sell more stuff.
But just knowing that to earn more a sales professional must sell more does put more money in your account.
Sales professionals live and die by their activity. So while few would argue against the importance of activity in sales, many seem confused about what activities actually lead to more sales. I was fortunate to have worked for a true sales professional early in my career. While he demanded excellence and expected a ton of activity from each of his employees, he was very precise when classifying what activities he expected.
Making calls for the sake of making calls is a wonderful way to get micro-managers off your back but a terrible way to improve your sales.
Here’s the bad news: Just making sure that your activity levels are high and that your days are filled with quality activities, doesn’t mean that your sales results will improve. Yes, you probably will begin to realize more sales, more revenue and more earned income, but you will be missing out on the substantial improvements that those who couple targeted activities with an ever improving set of sales skills enjoy.
Your sales skills are like any of your other skills and are governed by a universal truth: Use it or lose it!
In fact, your sales skills are governed by an even stricter truth: Use them, improve them, expand them or lose them.
While it may be challenging and create serious scheduling demands, you should never pass up an opportunity to attend a training session. If you experience time management challenges, they should signal to you that you need to work on your time management skills or create more empowering daily routines. I’ve been using morning routines since starting the CPSP Certification and have enjoyed a tremendous increase in my productivity and an absence of scheduling issues.
If your employer does not provide frequent enough sales training, the responsibility falls onto your shoulders. Go buy a few books, attend a sales seminar, download some audio books, hire a sales coach or find a mentor. Better yet, do all of these as often as you can.
Sites like NASP.com provide tremendous value to those committed to sales excellence. Not only does NASP.com have experienced authors who share their tips and tricks, but also offer a wealth of sales content. I am 100% certain that if you are reading this article and are a member of NASP.com, that you are leaps and bounds ahead of your “less than committed” competition. You only need to continue your focus to improving your sales skills.
About the author