Sales can be a tough game. It’s full of rejection, stress, and self-doubt. Unless, that is, you armor yourself with a well thought out sales process.
Process keeps you on track, freeing you up to listen and connect with your prospects. If you manage a team or hope to one day, you need to know what you’re doing right so you can repeat your process, scale it, and teach it to others. The good news is: while a lack of process is a common problem, it’s one that’s easily solved.
Start with a checklist.
Pilots run through the same checklist before every flight. If they forget to check the wing flaps say, or fuel levels it can lead to disaster. Similarly, if a sales rep forgets to pre-call plan or research the various stakeholders, they risk crashing and burning.
Ironically, adhering to structure allows you the freedom to act authentically and create true connections. Yes, it takes time and commitment to formulate a structure that works for you; but meticulous planning, focus, and repetition guarantees that you won’t skip a presentation step or perform it haphazardly.
Top-performing sales reps have not only built structures for their entire sales process, they have a process for handling objections. It starts with gaining composure.
Rather than immediately combating customer concerns, take a second. Actually, take three. Research shows if you take three seconds before responding to an objection, you’re significantly less likely to come across as defensive.
Repetition is the key to success.
The Ancient Greeks learned that in order to shape human behavior, you must first repeat that behavior. When I first became a manager, I created weekly training meetings for my new team based on the ten steps of their sales process. Then, a dilemma. What would I cover after training the 10 steps? I asked my mentor for guidance. “Once you’re done training all ten steps”, he said, “start over!”
I’m looking forward to exploring this topic in detail at Outbound in sunny Atlanta in just a few weeks. If you haven’t already purchased your ticket, hurry! Less than 90 tickets are remaining. Grab yours now and use coupon code heartsell100 for $100 off. (Successfully redeem your savings by entering the coupon code after selection of your desired ticket type in the checkout window.)
Come hell or high water, I’ll see you at Outbound!
Fabulous videos Shari, I wish I could have met you at #Outbound2019 have a Fabulous Time. — Barry from the UK.