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1. Be compelling.

“Yeah, yeah, every sales guru ever says that, but so fewsalespeople actually follow through with it. Instead, they fallback on the same tired boilerplate description of who they are andwhat they do.

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From the prospect's perspective — an individual who has satthrough dozens of these conversations before — all of theboilerplate simply blurs together, leaving you to become 'justanother' advisor. Identify what makes you standout, know what partsof your story resonate with prospects, and enter the salesconversation with a plan to be compelling.”

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— John Pojeta, Vice President of Business Development,PTServices Group

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2. Be active in yourcommunity.

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“Becoming a well-known advisor is simple and easy, as long asyou take the right steps to get there. Sometimes, it means doingthe little things in your community to get your name out. Here arenine steps to increase your leads.

• Write helpful, informative blogs.

• Submit articles to local publications, magazines and newspapers.Please note you may have to pay for your work to be published untileditors see it is worthwhile and educational; not a salespitch.

• Be at every community event and volunteer your time (i.e., Relayfor Life, Alzheimer's Association walks, etc.). Lending a helpinghand is free, always needed and greatly appreciated.

• Host your own radio show or ask the expert program and addressvaluable hot topics. Again, you may have to pay for your program tobe aired in the beginning.

• Advertise your picture and agency on place mats and menus. Ihave found this is the best use of marketing dollars depending onprices and geographic location.

• Give away your own, or someone else's, informative booklets forfree. Be sure to include a personal touch or cover letter with eachone. If you want to give a more valuable free gift, write aforeword or testimonial for a book and then give away the book withit.

• Compile a list of all of the television, radio, e-mail andpublications in your area. Then, write a press release foreverything you do with your business, and send it to them to sparkattention.

• Work with someone to develop a paid media campaign to get you onFOX, ABC, NBC, etc.

• Always be respectful and kind to everyone you encounter whileserving them unceasingly.”

— Dennis M. Postema, president of Postema Insurance &Investments

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3. Analyze your 2015 sales and revenuetrends.

“Where did your sales and revenue come from in 2015? Is most ofyour company revenue from existing customers or new customers?How long was your average sales cycle? Who were your best (andworst) customers – why? What are your best lead sources? Areprospects getting stuck anywhere in the sales cycle?

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Why did you lose the opportunities you think you should havewon? Could your close rate be improved? Document your lessonslearned, and start thinking about improvements you'd like to makein 2016.”

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— Marisa Smith, inbound marketing certifiedexpert & head brainiac, Whole Brain Group

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4. Know your market's vocabulary.

“One [critical illness insurance] agent lost a sale because hedidn't know that renal failure was kidney failure.”

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— Joe Crawford of the L Group, in the Oct. 3, 2003, issue ofNational Underwriter Life & Health

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5. Be an active listener.

“As you listen intently to your prospect or client, take highlydetailed notes. Put a star next all important ideas, list out theirbuying criteria, and underline key budget numbers. Take notes thatallow you to perfectly summarize and paraphrase what the client hasshared with you to demonstrate that you have listened verycarefully to them and understand their needs, wants, wishes,desires and concerns.”

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— John Spence, business strategist, author,speaker

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6. Clarify your mission.

“Begin by understanding your business niche. What do you dobest? Who needs what you do? How do you best approach theseprospects? How much are they willing to pay? If these questions arenot answered easily, campaign at the top for clarity andvision.

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Next, break your mission into specific goals. Write down theactivity goals (calls per day, proposals per month, referrals percall, etc.) that you can control. Set results goals (sales permonth, amount per sale, profit per sale, etc.) to measure yourprogress, and track them closely. Increase your activity andmeasure the results. Goals focus your attention and energize youraction.”

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— John H. Dean, SellingPower

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7. Take the time to engage on socialmedia.

“In order to build trust, authority, and a sufficient onlinefollowing, you will need to post fresh and quality content often.Whether this content is funneled through a preexisting blog orvideos from your YouTube account, it needs to be informative anduseful to viewers. Become a regular supplier of great informationand resources and potential customers will flock to you.

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It's important to regularly produce high-quality content, butit's also central to actually interact with other bloggers,businesses, and the readers. “Like” the comments and posts ofothers and share other quality content that is relevant to yourindustry. Ask questions and give your opinion on popular topics sothat people feel like they are getting to know you. This strategyis quite similar to the flattery of in-person selling. When peopleconsider you to be invested and interested in the industry (andthem), they are much more willing to buy.”

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— Gary Galvin, consultant, sales leader, CEO ofGalvin Technologies

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8. You know who was a great team? The Beatles.

“My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys whokept each other's kind of negative tendencies in check. Theybalanced each other, and the total was greater than the sum of theparts. That's how I see business: Great things in business arenever done by one person, they're done by a team of people.”

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— Steve Jobs, was co-founder, chairman and CEO of AppleInc.

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9. A trusted referral is gold.

“People influence people. Nothing influences people more than arecommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral influencespeople more than the best broadcast message. A trusted referral isthe Holy Grail of advertising.”

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— Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder

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10. Customers value simplicity.

“Make your product easier to buy than your competition or youwill find your customers buying from them, not you.”

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— Mark Cuban, American businessman, investor, film producer,author, TV personality and owner of NBA team the DallasMavericks

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11. Evaluate why clients leave — then win themback.

“Customers don't walk away without reason, so get to the heartof why this one left. Be honest with yourself. Conduct a strengths,weaknesses, opportunities and threats (or SWOT) analysis, assessing why your product orservice was no longer perceived as having the best value.

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What are the company's weaknesses, especially in light ofpotential changes in the market?

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Are you staying current, both in your pricing and level ofservice? Has the market moved beyond your capacity to staycompetitive? How was your relationship with the client?

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Look hard in the mirror for the underlying answers. And if youcan't be objective, put someone who was not on that account team onthe case. This is not only an important first step to winning backyour client; it's critical in ensuring that more customersalso do not depart.”

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— Dave Mattson, CEO and president,Sandler Training

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12. Close more sales with scripting.

“If you've got great scripts, you need to deliver them in adynamic fashion. You must put passion, enthusiasm and confidenceinto your delivery. But your style should be congruent with who youare.

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Step 1: Tape yourself

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One of the best ways to improve your script delivery is tovideotape or audiotape yourself. By watching and listening to yourdelivery, you will make a quantum leap in your effectiveness. Thetape recorder will provide you with insights that even the bestpresentation coach would be challenged to impart to you.

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If you are delivering seminars, it is even more critical to tapeyourself. Watching and listening to yourself is only slightly morepleasant than root-canal work, but the process pays back dividendsthat will last you a lifetime.

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Step 2: Stand and deliver

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Take an acting class. You will learn lots of techniques formaking scripts come alive. You will also have a lot of fun. In thesame vein, take a singing class to learn how to use your voice totouch others. Singing a song is a perfect analogy for delivering ascript. In both cases, you are using memorized words and animpassioned style to affect the emotions of the audience.”

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— Paul Karasik, president of the Business Institute andco-author of “22 Keys to Sales Success”

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13. Create a sense of urgency.

“Attach a deadline to the deal to help give the client anincentive to commit. Whether it's a discount or something free,make them feel like they have the upper hand. This does not meanrush the customer; it simply means try to give them a little extrareason why your product or service is the right choice, and theright choice right now.”

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— Adam Heitzman, co-founder,HigherVisibility

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14. Form partnerships with other agents.

“Buying leads, generating leads and referral marketing shouldall be part of your online business acquisition strategy, but thereis one more area of focus: partnerships. Like calling clientsdaily, agents should be calling other agents daily to formaffiliate partnerships to drive their business.

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These partners can be health insurance agents, P&C agents,financial advisors, etc. These are professionals that have similarclients that they often don't offer life insurance to … until youcome in the picture.

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You call these professionals to form a partnership to do jointwork. They refer you a client and you split the commission 50/50.Be mindful of what you are pitching to their clients. An examplewould be not pitching IUL as a LIRP when you are talking tofinancial advisors' clients.

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Partnerships are a great way to diversify your practice so youare not 100% reliant on any one source of revenue.”

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— Nic West, director of business development,SellTermLife.com

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15. Recognize that many of the remaining uninsuredmajor medical prospects are confused.

“Listen more than we talk. What are their priorities? Understandwhere they are … Messages need to connect them with what's real andrelevant for them and their situation. Pushing out messages to themasses is likely wasteful.”

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— Enroll America and Get Covered America webinarslidedeck, November 2015

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16. Build a value machine for thelong-term.

“There's a valuable lead generation technique that most peoplewill not have the discipline or patience to pursue. That iscreating a REAL value machine for your market. This could be a blogyou post to daily, or a video series you create daily … orsomething else.

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Sounds simple, but it's far from easy. I dare you, try it andyou'll see. Write a 100% value blog post every day for a month.This is work from top to bottom. That's why it's so effective, inmy opinion. Because the majority of your competition is most likelylazy. Use that to your advantage — I am and I like the results.

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Sometimes, however, you need leads yesterday so that you can putfood on the table today. Even if that's the case, ALWAYS have along term lead generation system running alongside your short termcampaigns.

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Build your asset before you need it.”

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— Jason Leister, entrepreneur, copywriter, editor of“The Client Letter”

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17. Set an effective social mediastrategy.

“An effective social strategy requires content — the moreoriginal and engaging, the better. (Hint: always include a visual.)Depending on who your customer is, you will have to find a balancefor how frequently and in which formats to post. Don't count outthe power of reposting or tweeting third-party material, either.The point is to get engaged with your customers; open yourself apersonal account, have conversations and become acquaintedwith the norms and expectations of the community.

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Remember, of course, that too little or too much can be equallydamaging to the objective. If you constantly comment and it's clearyou just want to get people to go to your site, you run the risk ofputting potential customers off. Recognize also that differentsocial networks serve different functions — a thoughtfultutorial may be the way to capture customers' hearts onLinkedIn but posting a time-limited discount code may bethe better call in the Twitter environment.”

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— Steve Fusco, vice president and general managerof North American distribution, PayPal

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18. Always smile.

“This is not just about your attitude, but also your physicalmanifestation. For the next week, practice smiling with everyone inevery situation you encounter. Do this until you are able to arguewith a smile, disagree with a smile, negotiate, overcome objectionsand close with a smile. Have you ever noticed that very successfulpeople are smiling all the time? It is not because they aresuccessful that they are smiling, it's how they got successful.This is a million dollar tip: Smile.”

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— Grant Cardone, international sales expert, NewYork Times best-selling author, radio show host of The CardoneZone

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19. Pursue top dogs.

“When you're selling a product to a company, try to pitch theproduct to a strong executive who will take over pitching theproduct to any other executives who have to be won over. The strongexecutive knows best how to manage the company's board and meet anyobjections that might arise. 'The agent, if left alone to championthe cause of the insurance, will be in the position of the oneoutsider against all the insiders … If this leads to an argument,it will be a case of winning the argument and losing thecase'.”

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— W.J. Graham, manager of the group insurance department ofthe Equitable Life of New York, in the March 30, 1916, edition ofThe Western Underwriter (National Underwriter)

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20. Direct mail still works.

“One great letter can work magic in a marketing program. Theoperative word is 'great'. The difference between workmanlike andgreat in direct mail is as vast as the difference between acartoonist and a Vermeer.

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Take a look at your database to find customers who have stoppedbuying from you. A simple 'We want you back' lettercan bring them right back before they forget you exist. I wish morecompanies did this. Instead, they use e-mail now and it's justnot as effective.

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I'm also starting to hear that straight direct mail letters areworking very well with young males, not teenagers but the 30–50group.

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It can't hurt to try a letter or two every now and then. Itdoesn't cost a heck of a lot. In fact, your biggest expense mightbe the cost of hiring a really good direct mail writer. If you canget a letter to click with a test audience, you'll have found apotential silver mine that can pay off nicely when you roll it outto larger audiences.”

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— Lois Geller, owner, Lois Geller MarketingGroup

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21. Know that sales resistance is anoxymoron.

“Remember this: Nobody cares how great you are until theyunderstand how great you think they are.

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Forget about trying to 'sell' your product or service and To dothis, you need to get fascinated with your prospect; you need toask questions (lots and lots of them) with no hidden agenda orulterior motives.

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Many years ago, I was selling CDs at a music festival. It didn'ttake me long to figure out that it wasn't my job to sell the CDs— it was my job to get the earphones on every person whowalked by my booth!

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I noticed right away that whenever people sensed I wasattempting to 'sell' them a CD, their walls of defense immediatelywent up and they did everything in their power to get as far awayfrom me as they could.

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So instead, I made it my job to introduce new music to anyonewho wanted to put on the earphones. Once they heard the music, theyeither liked it or they didn't. I didn't do any 'selling,' and Imade more money that week than any other CD hawkers at thefestival.

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Back then, I didn't know anything about sales, but I knew enoughabout human nature to understand that sales resistance is anoxymoron: The act of selling creates the resistance!”

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— Len Foley, author and sales managementtrainer

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22. Sell greatness.

“The key to evangelism is a great product. It is easy, almostunavoidable, to catalyze evangelism for a great product. It ishard, almost impossible, to catalyze evangelism for crap.”

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— Guy Kawasaki, author and speaker

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23. Don't follow up too much.

“Pressing calls and e-mails are certain to turn potentialcustomers running in the opposite direction. Did you have a helpfulidea for their vision or an introduction to someone useful to theirsuccess? Following up with your audience is important, butkeep it casual and friendly with occasional reminders.

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Drop the forceful marketing and simply start helping. You'recertain to see better results.”

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— Ilya Pozin, founder of Pluto.TV

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24. Never lose an opportunity tocross-sell.

“Research by banks into the number of accounts held by customersand their likelihood of switching showed those with four accountsor more were 100-1 against switching; those with only one accounthad a 50% chance of switching. Your existing customer is 3–8 timesas likely to buy as an identical non-customer. Someone who hasresponded to a promotion is twice as likely to buy. Anyone with anyrelationship with you, however slight, is more likely to buy.”

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— Bill Fryer, creative director of Bill FryerDirect

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25. Be strategic in your introduction.

“Introduce yourself and your company:

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'My name is Sally Smith with ABCCompany. We're a local firm that specializes in helping businesseslike yours save money.'

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Don't get too specific yet. Don't mention your product. If youdo, that allows the other party to say, 'Oh, we're happy with whatwe've got. Thanks anyway,' and hang up. By keeping yourintroduction general, yet mentioning a benefit, you'll pique yourprospect's curiosity and keep them on the line longer.

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— Tom Hopkins, speaker and sales trainer

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26. Collect testimonials.

“Most of us are imitators. We look to others for guidance,especially when we are uncertain about something. We ask, 'What doothers think about this? What do others feel? What do others do?'Then we act accordingly.

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This is why testimonials and case histories are soinfluential.

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— Dean Rick, direct marketing copywriter

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27. Retain customers that find you on socialmedia.

“Remember that social media is a place to connect withothers and build trust. Make sure that you have a strategy tokeep relationships with your customers growing as they clickthrough to your website and other social-media channels, opt tojoin your e-mail list and start to receive notifications fromyou.”

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— Jaclyn Mullen, COO, Jaclyn MullenMedia

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28. Compliment your competitors.

“Most salespeople have been correctly taught never to speak illof their competition. Doing so will only make the salesperson lookbad. Unfortunately (in my opinion), most salespeople have beentaught not to say anything good about their competition,either.

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I disagree with this counsel and have found just the opposite tobe true in my selling career. Whenever I'm speaking with a prospectand they bring up my competitors, I go out of my way to saysomething nice about them. Why? Because I'm a nice guy? No, not atall (although I do hope I'm also a nice guy).

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The reason is that by complimenting my competitors, I'm actuallybuilding myself in the mind of my prospect.”

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— Bob Burg, author and speaker

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29. Know your customers inside-out.

“I've learned to really think about who I actually want to sellto, instead of some generalization or profile of who might buy fromme. Every time I've named individual people and created contentwith them in mind, those people have actually worked with me. Nosolicitation, just genuine connection by tailor-making what worksbest for them. Of course, I've also met many other amazingpeople who needed the same things.”

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— Tara Gentile, entrepreneur and businessstrategist

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30. Develop an engaging video.

“Please don't produce another terrible commercial and post it on YouTube. Theworld doesn't need any more of these. What people always want moreof is entertainment. So, spend some time developing a great ideathat promotes your business and engages your customers. Once you'veuploaded the video, you can get the ball rolling on making it goviral by using services like StumbleUpon to drive traffic to your video forpennies per viewer. Video sites like YouTube allow you to put linksdirectly into the video. Use these to link back to specific landingpages on your website.”

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— Mike Templeman, CEO, Foxtail Marketing

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31. Challenge your prospects.

“Everyone thinks that their story sets them apart when reallythey end up rehashing the same old proof points like having a'laser focus' on customer service or providing the 'best value' forclients. If you talk about yourself the way your competitors talkabout themselves, your voice will get lost.

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Very early in your sales process, you should share an insightwith your prospect that reveals an opportunity or problem he or shehad not considered. Ideally, this is insight should challenge yourprospect to think differently about their needs and theirbusiness.

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The good news is that these two elements support each other. Ifyou put some thought into what impactful insight you can deliver toa prospect, your brand personality as an advisor will shinethrough. If you are excited and passionate about this insight, it'sonly natural that more of what makes you different from yourcompetitors will begin to reveal itself.

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If you haven't plotted out your story as it relates to yoursales process (or perhaps tried and failed before), workingbackward from your teachable moment might help you reenergize yoursales process.”

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— John Pojeta, VP of Business Development, PT ServicesGroup

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32. Master referral conversations

“After you are providing excellent service to your existingclients, you can take the step to ask for referrals on a regularbasis. Asking for referrals is not as simple as just asking. Youneed to incorporate finesse in the way you ask. One way to do thisis to master referral conversations.

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Sixty-five percent of high income wealth managers ask clientsfor referrals an average of FOUR times annually.

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Having a script doesn't mean you should recite it like a robot.Using a script just helps you to practice asking in a naturalmanner that is authentic for you. Practice makes perfect. When youpractice and the opportunity presents itself, you will be MOREPOLISHED.”

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— Suzanne Muusers, a professional coach helping financeindustry professionals growth their skills

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33. Simplify your message.

“I talk a lot at colleges because I think that audience is areally important audience for us. If we're failing them, we'll failacross a wide range of audiences. When I started reading the news —after 9/11 is when I began to pay attention — for a long time Ionly understood 45% of every article. There was so much encodedaround what it meant to say 'Senate minority leader Tom Daschle.' Ijust didn't have associations with that. After a couple of months,I got up to 55%, and after a year 65%.

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It's very frustrating to feel that dumb. So that's a real sweetspot for us. Now we have this thing I can put inside every storythat tells them everything they want to know.”

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— Ezra Klein, Founder of Vox.com

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34. Seek out community organizations for aknowledgeable speaker — and have fun.

“The most important marketing tool I used as an advisor wasgiving seminars or workshops. I would work with an organizationthat people trusted, like a church or synagogue, to sponsor theseworkshops. It was always an educational event — I wasn't selling myservices. But at the end of each event, people would approach mewanting to become clients.

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Public libraries, lifelong learning centers, garden clubs andthe like are always searching for speakers. Look for places whereyour target clients congregate.

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Such outreach can also be fun. I used to host events in my ownhome called 'Sunday afternoon soirées' with hors d'oeuvres anddessert. I invited my female clients, and they were invited tobring friends. We once talked about 'fashion, food, fun andfinance': different ways to tie scarves and how to not get yourfinances in a knot!

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As a specialist in money psychology, I've spoken at a variety ofappreciation events with advisors' clients, friends and relativesas the audience. In my experience, an advisor who makes the effortto educate and entertain current and potential clients with aspecial event, an active program of blog posts or YouTube videos isemphasizing how much he or she values their trust and goodwill.That sends a warm 'Welcome!' message to prospects.”

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— Kathleen Rehl, Founder, Rehl Wealth Collaborations

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35. Find group health prospects.

“One way to sell group health insurance is to learn whetherenough employees are unhappy with their current group healthinsurance program. If they are, use the information to get aface-to-face meeting with that company's decision maker.”

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— Sidney Friedman, chairman of Corporate Financial Services,in the March 7, 1994, issue of National Underwriter Life &Health

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36. Never go into a sales call not knowing how you'regoing to close the sale.

“If you don't know where you're going, then how will you getthere? The most common part left out of any presentation is theclose. Plan for it upfront by developing the strategy and yourcourse of action.

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This does not mean you're only going to use one type of closingtechnique. On the contrary, it means you're going to be ready toclose using several different techniques based on what the customertells you.”

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— Mark Hunter, keynote speaker and salestrainer

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37. Have a clear message.

“When pitching do not use complicated diction. Pride yourselfinstead on being able to explain the concept as quickly, clearlyand simply as possible. This is important because the biggestproblem in sales is client confusion. Confusion does not lead to a'Yes'.”

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— Tom Szaky, CEO and found of TerraCycle

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38. Get disability insurance prospects'attention.

“The disability income approach is the easiest of all. You canget immediate attention with one key question: 'Do you have asource of tax-free income when you are sick or hurt?'”

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— V.L. Hooper, vice president of Southland Life of Dallas,in the Nov. 29, 1975, issue of National Underwriter Life &Health

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39. Anticipate the future of contentmarketing.

“… Brands are increasingly investing in digital content to thetune of $135 billion. But, just because a company is acting on anopportunity doesn't mean they're taking full advantage of it —according to BrightEdge research, 59% of content marketers say thattheir budgets aren't aligned with performance. To truly rise abovethe noise, content marketers must run their programs by thenumbers.”

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— Jim Yu, CEO and founder ofBrightEdge

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40. Talk about taxes.

“When you're offering individual medical coverage to low-incomeand moderate-income people, talk about the Patient Protection andAffordable Care Act (PPACA) premium tax credit. Don't assumethey've heard of it.

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Six in 10 [uninsured people] are confused or have not hear abouttax credits.”

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— Enroll America and Get Covered America webinar slidedeck,November 2015

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41. Don't be intimidated by other professionalrelationships.

“Why don't prospects make decisions? In preparing for a recenttraining seminar, I surveyed and interviewed successful advisors inthe field. Among the reasons cited in these conversations: theprospect works with another financial professional.

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It may be a family member. Although they might not be veryattentive, they aren't that bad. Doing business with someone elsemight involve a confrontation with their current person. Even if itisn't an issue, they have one dentist, one accountant and one automechanic. Why do they need more than one financial advisor?

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The book 'The Millionaire's Advisor' by Russ AlanPrince and James Van Bortel makes the point that the wealthy workwith 3-plus financial advisors on average. When interfacing withthese affluent prospects, don't quote statistics. Mention that youexpected they worked with someone already. 'Successful peopleusually have multiple financial advisors. You're obviouslysuccessful. How many do you have?' People identify with the word'successful'.”

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— Bryce Sanders, president of Perceptive Business SolutionsInc.

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42. Educate – don't pitch.

“Our entire approach is one of industry education — it's beenworking really well because there is so much information andconsumers are often misinformed about many things when it comes toplanning and investment advice. I believe if you give peopleinformation and options, and remain as objective as possible, thereis a self-selection process that occurs.

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You ultimately end up with the right clients and they end upwith the right advisors and everyone wins. Even when they don'tpick you or your firm — they know more and can do better forthemselves.”

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— Kim Brown, president, JNBA Financial AdvisorsInc., Minneapolis

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43. Look forleads in unusual place.

Media items “of every nature, such as marriage licenses, births,new corporations, etc. all yield information of value in locatingthose who need protection. But the importance of such leads isminimized by the fact that nearly every agent reads the papers, anda prospect so found may be 'pestered by agents' and hard to dobusiness with.”

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Less public sources, such as club directories, private schooldirectories, and companies' own in-house newsletters are oftenbetter sources of leads.

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— Walter Webb, of the Los Angeles agency of Pacific MutualLife, in the July 15, 1915, issue of The Western Underwriter(National Underwriter)

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44. Drop the financial speak.

“Oftentimes, the standard financial terminology found on advisorwebsites and brochures is more likely to alienate potential clientsthan attract them. So while you may think that 'financialspeak' will help you come across as knowledgeable, it's importantto note that it actually puts you at risk of sounding stiff andunapproachable.

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The simple truth is that consumers don't want to feel stupid.When it comes time to discuss their retirement and wealthmanagement, they want to do it in layman's terms to avoid confusionor potential missteps.

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With that said, you should focus on bringing warmth to theconversation through more personal engagements. This will help youto make an emotional connection, build trustand differentiate yourself from everyone else.

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'Think about this truth: Our customers don't care about ourproducts or services; they care about themselves. If we buy intothis, then we must also accept that the majority of the informationwe produce for marketing purposes cannot be about ourselves,'explains Joe Pulizzi, founder of Content Marketing Institute. 'Ourcontent must be based on fulfilling our customers' needs andinterests, so that they come to build a trusted and emotionalconnection with our brands.'”

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— Julie Edge, co-founder and chief storyteller ofCreelio

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45. Write a referral-selling strategy.

“The business case for referrals is loud and clear.Decision-makers will always meet with salespeople who've beenreferred by people they know and trust. If your competition gets tothe decision-maker first, you might be out of the game. But whenyou get referrals, you win.

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Yet, while every sales professional understands the unrivaledvalue of referral leads, 95% of companies do not have a writtenreferral-selling strategy, written weekly referral goals,referral-selling skills, accountability for results, or a system totrack and measure.

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It's time to make referrals the way you sell. Stop thetime-wasting, irrelevant, unproductive, frustrating prospectingactivities you think you should be doing. Stop sorting leads intocold, warm, and hot. There's only one kind of lead that should bein your pipeline. Only one kind of lead that counts. Only one kindof lead that management cares about. Only one kind of lead youshould care about.

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That's hot leads — the kind you source by gettingreferrals.”

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— Joanne S. Black, professional speaker,author of “No More Cold Calling”

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46. Make your ads (and websites) work for aliving.

“Stop confusing attractive advertising with effectiveadvertising. You're in a marketplace — not an art gallery. Andgood looking advertisements, like good looking people, aren'talways the hardest workers.”

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— Thomas Maher, marketing columnist, in the March 6, 1982,issue of National Underwriter Life & Health

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47. Obsess about clients.

“We're not competitor obsessed, we're customer obsessed. Westart with the customer and we work backwards.”

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— Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO ofAmazon.com, owner of The Washington Post and tech investor

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48. Underwrite an event in yourcommunity.

“Event sponsorship is an excellent way to generate goodwill andvisibility for your firm. You can underwrite an existing event oryou can begin your own. When you are deciding on an event, chooseone with appeal to the members of your target market.

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Events to consider include a lecture series, a run, aneighborhood festival, a bike race, golf tournament, a charitableor arts event, among many others.”

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— Mary Reed, owner of Mary Reed Public Relations, a firmthat caters to, among other segments, personal financeprofessionals and wealth managers

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49. Before you go into sales, make sure that you have,and can continue to have, a good attitude.

“It is very difficult for a sales [rep] who is not getting goodresults to have a correct mental attitude, and it is next toimpossible to get good results without a correct mentalattitude.”

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— Frank Wesley, an agency manager with the Standard Life ofPittsburgh, in the Sept. 16, 1916, issue of The Western Underwriter(National Underwriter)

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50. Write for your customer.

“Start your copy with something that engages the prospect; whatmost people are interested in is themselves. If an insurance agencywanted to introduce its new employee health-benefit program forsmall-business owners, it might be tempted to state the obvious,using the phrase, 'Introducing our Guarda-Health Employee BenefitPlan.'

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The agency would get better results if it wrote something thatdirectly interests the prospect, such as, 'Are the skyrocketingcosts of your insurance premiums threatening to put your companyout of business?' That's something business owners who providebenefits to their employees can relate to.”

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— Bob Bly, author, copywriter, Internet marketingspecialist

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Related: 5 tips to make 2016 your most profitable yearyet