Symptoms:
Sally and Sanjay were comparing notes after a very busy week out selling. Sally was exhausted, but at the same time pretty satisfied that her week was highly productive and would produce some nice revenue for the company and herself. Sanjay, on the other hand, was exhausted and uncertain about what actually happened to him and what success he created. As they compared “war stories” Sally could detail where she was with each prospect she engaged and exactly what the next steps were in the decision process. She could validate she was in control and her future was certain to be positive. Stunned to hear such detail and certainty, Sanjay couldn't comprehend how Sally managed to systematically get through the minefield his sales approach created. “You mean you don’t have all these problems I keep running into?” Sanjay queried. Sally looked at him and replied, “You only have to deal with them if you do not have a process to keep you out of them.”
Diagnosis:
Salespeople that operate in a reactive mode dictated by the whims and expectations of the prospects/suspects find frustration as a constant companion. Sanjay’s sales game consists of cancelled appointments, way too much follow up, proposals that die on desks, and jumping through hoops for no reward because he refuses to exercise his right to know what happens next and to implement a reliable sales process to keep things moving. His belief that the customer dictates the sales process creates these challenges, and until he changes his way Sanjay will never be certain about what his pipeline will return and how successful his sales efforts will be. Sanjay is just living on hope.
Prescription:
Sales is a process that can be managed rather than a random collection of events that may or may not produce the results you desire. By committing to a conceptual process that has benchmarks and mutual agreements made by both the buyer and the seller there is much less chance of working towards an uncertain outcome. Sally learned to create opportunities to validate her sense of where she was in the sales process and to get her prospects to confirm her position. Are we or are we not both on the same page about what happens next, when it will happen, and what exactly it takes for us to come to an agreement? Sally was OK with either a yes or a no outcome, but she hated the uncertainty that too many of her peers were willing to accept as normal. When you apply a process instead of relying on the whims of the prospect your results will certainly be more consistent.
Critical Thinking:
What are your keys to staying on your sales process and managing your day-to-day activities?
Final Thought for the Morning:
The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. -- Alice Walker
Change your thoughts and you change your world. -- Norman Vincent Peale
Your Top 3 Goals & Tactics for the Week
LAST WEEK: Update us on how things went last week with your stated Goals and GD Tactics.
THIS WEEK: Please share your Top 3 Goals for this week and the GD tactics you plan to deploy.
Photo by Suzanne D. Williams on Unsplash
