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Updated: April 7, 2025 Ask ACE

Ask ACE: What can I do to help my sales team meet their goals?

By Donna Brassard, Strategies+

Q: My sales team has been active with new business calls, but they are not meeting sales goals. What can I do to help them make the sales?

ACE Advises: Measure their closing ratios: track how many initial calls turn into proposals and how many proposals result in sales. Set a target — mine is 5:3:1 (five calls lead to three proposals lead to one sale). Top salespeople exceed this. It is your key metric.

If your salespeople miss the target, help them improve:

1. Qualify prospects before meeting. The objective is to make a sale, not hold a meeting. Do not waste time meeting prospects who do not need, cannot afford, or cannot authorize the purchase. Do background research and ask key questions. Your prospects will appreciate frank questions if they avoid pointless meetings. What is motivating the prospect to buy?

2. Present proposals in person. If a meeting leads to a proposal, make the pitch face-to-face. Recently, after meeting with a personable salesperson about a product I wanted to buy, I received the final proposal in an email: no note, no explanation. To make matters worse, the proposal looked like an invoice. I didn’t respond, and neither did he. Emailing a proposal squanders your hard-won goodwill. Review it together, address concerns and reinforce the relationship. Zoom or phone works if an in-person presentation is not possible. Too many salespeople stop at “here’s the price.” They do not realize that prospects are buying the relationship as much as they are buying the product or service.

3. Ask for the order. This is the oldest of sales adages. A price sheet is not a close. Overwhelming the prospect with sleek handouts is not a sale. Make the ask and show how the proposal meets the prospect’s needs and budget.

4. Follow up. Never leave a meeting without scheduling the next one. Getting in front of a customer the first time is hard, and it is also an opportunity to make sure the relationship continues. “I’ll get back to you” is not enough — lock in a time and adjust if needed.

Donna Brassard, an ACE member and former publisher of Mainebiz, is owner of Strategies+, a consulting firm that helps businesses maximize potential with good sales strategies. Learn more at strategiesplus.biz, and you can reach Donna at db55me@gmail.com.

About ACE

The Association for Consulting Expertise (ACE) is a nonprofit association of independent consultants who value “success through collaboration.” The public is welcome to attend its regular meetings to share best practices and engage with industry experts. For more information go to www.consultexpertise.com.

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