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Sale Commandment 10: Look Beyond Your Own Back Yard

Guest articles > Sale Commandment 5: Look Beyond Your Own Back Yard

by: Daniel Milstein

As a salesperson, you must be willing to expand and change your boundaries. A willingness to diversify and adapt is key; if the market changes, you adjust your plan to the new market.

Too many salespeople give themselves restrictive boundaries. They don't look beyond their back yards, their designated market. Once you have conquered your town, move on to the next town. When you have the whole city covered, expand into the next one, and then the entire county, and when you're ready, the next state. When it was clear we wouldn't be able to achieve our long- term growth goals unless Gold Star was able to originate loans beyond Michigan's borders, we became licensed in more than 20 states. We took the company from a primarily regional to a national focus, which helped ensure we would succeed long- term. In Michigan alone, more than 90 percent of the mortgage lending companies closed during the well known 'mortgage industry meltdown.'

An inability or unwillingness to diversify or otherwise expand their market was one of the reasons for their demise. Certainly there are many occasions where you will be assigned a certain geographic territory, but you can still expand in other ways. For example, when we first opened the Golden Rule office in Ann Arbor, we generated additional income by selling parking spaces at University of Michigan football games. I subsequently developed market niches with pro athletes. All salespeople have specific niche opportunities, such as seniors, immigrants, teachers, military personnel, and many others. In addition, we take full advantage of social media strategies, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

In today's ever-changing technological world, companies have to expand their digital initiatives and enter into the social media realm of business. As a salesperson, you have to be constantly willing to expand into new markets and new ventures in order to remain relevant.

Daniel Milstein is the bestselling author of ABC of Sales. For more information, visit: http://amzn.to/ABCARTICLES.

Contributor: Daniel Milstein

Published here on: 18-May-14

Classification: Sales

Website: http://amzn.to/ABCARTICLES