We have all had an opportunity get stuck. We thought it was on its way to becoming a sale, but it hasn’t yet. The prospect seemed interested. He even said, “We are going to do this.” But no calls have come in. Responses to emails have gone unanswered or slowed down. What happened? What next?

Even with the new and improved marketing techniques that are developed all the time, cold calls are still a viable way of generating revenue. There are a lot of reps who don’t have the desire or guts to make that call, though. If you are one of the gutsier people, here are a few tips to help increase your ability to make the sale in a cold call.

The agriculture economy has been solid for several years now. If you have been capitalizing on the market’s performance this is great news for your company, but the boom is unlikely to last forever. Here are a few sales techniques to keep in mind to help prepare for any eventual agribusiness decline, or to take full advantage of the strong market now.

If your salespeople can’t give their prospects a reason to buy, then they will struggle to close sales. They need to make your product or service – and your business itself – vital to customers, and make the case that the prospect is better off with you than without. They need to make their value clear – but that can be tougher than it sounds.

No matter your religious background, there’s a certain level of work that goes into faith. To grow spiritually, you need to go to church. You need to pray. You need to participate in religious observances and the other traditions of your faith. This is why there are churches, temples, mosques – they’re like cafeterias that believers can go to in order to get spiritually fed.

When business is slow, weak sales reps can be more easily exposed. But if your company is doing well presently, you may have salespeople who appear to be stronger than they really are. No matter how well your team performs as a whole, it’s important to be able to find the team’s weak links to strengthen them. A few factors to consider when looking to decipher whether or not your salesforce is full of weeds:

“We lost to a lower price” has to be one of the most frustrating statements heard on a regular basis by a sales manager. I can’t think of many other times that a sales manager can feel as powerless to act, either to save the sale or to solve the problem with the salesperson.

Whether your sales process is a call that lasts one hour or 12 calls spread over two years, a prospective client’s buying cycle is heavily dependent on the way in which a salesperson walks them through the process. While factors exist outside of a sales rep’s control, there are a few key pieces that can help to shorten the buying cycle. By shortening this cycle your sales team will be able to help your organization free up time to engage more prospects, bring in new revenue, and help with cash flow.

It’s easy to lose control of the conversation when you’re trying to make a sale. There are habits you can fall into that will take the path of the conversation in directions you didn’t intend, and of course the customer has an interest in trying to steer you in directions you don’t want to go. There are actions that you can take as a salesperson, though, to make sure that you don’t stray far from the path.

Over the past year or so, feedback has been positive in regards to an uptick in business as the economy has improved. It’s not 2008 anymore – a salesforce no longer has their heads hanging, wondering where the next sale might come from or if there will even be a “next sale.” Now we see more positive people who are starting to produce at a higher level. If your salesforce is prepared for an economic recovery, though, the level of production can rise even more.