Tag Archives: selling skills

Be Mindful of Their Time

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Some years ago, a rep popped in to give me a quote. Even though I mentioned at least 5 times how hectically busy I was, he still engaged in story after story about his wife, kids, old school pals and more. Almost an hour later, I was literally hopping from foot to foot and finally had to politely edge him closer to the door in order to “escape”.

As a sales professional, do you really want your customer to be praying that you’d just shut up and leave? Do you really want them to start avoiding taking your calls? Or when a customer sees your car pull up unexpectedly, would you want her to quickly hide in the storeroom to avoid spending 2 hours with you?

As Jill Konrath so aptly describes, customers and prospects are ‘crazy-busy’ at the best of times. They don’t have time to waste. Especially the real decision-makers.

Sales Pipelines Are Not “Optional” – For Sales Professionals

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One of the basics that all sales professionals have in common is owning a clearly-defined personal sales pipeline. Even if it is just a basic spreadsheet typed up in Microsoft Word or Excel. It doesn’t necessarily have to be housed in a state-of-the-art customised CRM software system that your employer has invested in to help you be more successful.

When interviewing job applicants, it really concerns me when a sales executive is unable to produce this selling tool on request. In this day and age, maintaining a well-documented personal sales pipeline is deemed ‘Sales 101’ by ALL sales experts worldwide.

Contrary to popular belief, It is not the sole responsibility of a sales manager or employer to set it up for the team. Having said that, many sales managers and/or their organisations already have an excellent sales process or pipeline framework in place. This should be viewed as a bonus for any sales pro to have as a base to work from. It’s what helps to define a professional sales organisation. But to me, it is still the individual who is responsible.  Just because a company doesn’t have a system in place is no excuse. 

Maintaining a well-documented personal sales pipeline shouldn’t be viewed as a grudge-admin-duty to keep your sales manager (aka The Sales Police) happy. The benefits to your personal sales and your pocket far outweigh this outdated perception. A sales manager has every right to ensure that you keep and maintain your personal pipeline – that’s part of his/her responsibility as a team leader. That’s professional Sales Management 101.

A Sales Metamorphosis

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metamorphosis (noun)
“a process in which somebody/something changes into something completely different,  especially over a period of time”  – The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

We’re all familiar with the most common example of a metamorphosis in nature – that of a tiny butterfly’s egg becoming a caterpillar and then becoming a butterfly.  What about using the same descriptor to change from a sales newbie or underachiever to top achiever?  Is it possible that by applying a process, giving someone enough time to make the changes and to do the hard work, that they could metamorphose into someone at the top of their sales game?

Of course it’s possible. The deciding factor is the amount of hard work one is prepared to do in order to make the transition. Who knows how hard it is for that little caterpillar to spin that cocoon. Who knows how hard it is for the baby butterfly to crack that cocoon open in order to escape. The one thing we do know is that if the caterpillar was wired to have a choice between doing the hard work or not, it may never experience the freedom of the skies. 

If we want to metamorphose into sales achievers, the choice is ours.  We can choose to do the hard work of figuring out what makes a successful sales achiever in our particular sales environment. We can choose to continually learn and practice the selling skills required. We can choose to continually gather the business knowledge necessary to make the transition. Or we can continue to do absolutely nothing.

Diagnosis is half the cure – use a Needs Assessment

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Get face to face with your client

When coaching or recruiting B2B sales folks, I always try to establish whether or not they are in the habit of conducting a well-defined needs assessment for each qualified prospect they see. In most sales processes, this is an extremely important milestone because if your subsequent sales proposal doesn’t “talk to” the right need, the probability of a successful sales outcome is extremely low.

If you’ve qualified your prospect thoroughly, most likely you have determined that they do have a need – but not always. Sometimes a need may exist and be obvious but sometimes the need might be undetermined or non-existent, then you have to work that out by asking the right questions. This is the essence of a consultative selling approach.

Having the right needs assessment in place will pay dividends.