Do I need a System of Selling?

I had a client ask me this week: Do I need a system of selling? My answer was: No, you do not unless you want to be successful and do more business.

Let’s continue with a rather obvious observation:

Just because you’re in selling doesn’t make you a sales professional.

I’ve been in the sales arena for 40+ years and quite honestly there isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t learn a new or different way of looking at sales. To put it bluntly, you’re always going to be a work in progress. Learning is a life long process that makes our profession interesting, fun and rewarding.

Starting with this week’s sales tip and over the next month we’re beginning to develop a system of selling. When doing so it’s important to realize that there’s a hundred systems out there, all good and very much alike in a lot of respects.

My selling system, which is considered by to many to be non-traditional, will give you the following:

·         A sales track to run on

·         An insight into a game plan that will help you to identify where you’re at in the selling process

·         The ability to debrief each interview in order to identify what you did well as well as areas that need improvement

·         A way of developing a flexible process that puts logical steps in the process.

·         An interface with the prospect to quickly determine if you’re going to be able to move forward or if it’s in everyone’s best interest to disconnect

·         Directions that afford you and the prospect the opportunity to have a meaningful dialogue to determine if you have a potential fit

 Check back next week for more on sales systems

Do You Have An Effective Selling System?

Welcome to our first Wednesday blog update! This week’s topic will deal with why it’s important to have a system or concept for selling. Having a system affords you the ability to understand where you’re at in the sales process.

A few days ago a client asked me “why is it so hard for my salespeople to close?” I told him that the reality is that closing a sale is actually the easiest part of the process. I informed him that where his people are most likely failing was during the discovery process. The discovery process refers to the portion of the selling system where it’s crucial to effectively interview and ask the right questions of the prospective client. The discovery process allows us to understand the pain or challenges that the business is facing. It’s difficult to solve a problem if what you’re representing will not fix the issue.

After interviewing a prospect the salesperson should have discovered the challenges within the prospect’s business that they can readily solve. A sale occurs because a prospect realizes that the value of what you’re product or service represents is greater than the cost. If a solvable issue does not exist, it’s okay to move on, but do so in a way that leaves the door open for future business to take place, should a solvable issue arise. You don’t want to get into the chase, which occurs many times when the prospective client doesn’t want to tell the salesperson no.

Basically you should communicate to the client that what you’re selling is a win, win for all involved. By showing them an issue you can readily solve, you enhance the client’s business without letting it skip a beat. This will help to create loyalty with a client that will lead them to come to you first if they have an issue.

We all need a selling system that helps us identify a problem and work towards a solution. Communicating what you can do for them will make it so the prospective client will realize right away that you’re working towards a win, win solution.

Be sure to check out our weekly sales tips where I will be covering the system of selling in greater detail over the next month. You can sign up for that here.

Tracking Systems and Poor Attitude

Welcome back! After our week long hiatus I am glad to be back. During the past 3 weeks we have covered how to avoid failing at prospecting and why it’s important to keep the funnel full. Today we continue this trend by discussing tracking systems and why it’s key to keep an open mind when looking into new prospecting opportunities.

Insufficient tracking system

If you are tracking a perspective client, or an existing one, this information can be essential in establishing an updated historical review that the company or sales representative can draw from in creating communication initiatives for the present and future.  Tracking is also a key ingredient in getting a clear perspective of the activity and behavior of your sales people.  If a sales representative leaves your company, you still have a road map for an effective transition by having the necessary background information on your clients.  Act and Goldmine are the two most widely used software programs.  Through the use of this software, and through staying up to date with your client database, transitions between salespeople who enter or leave your workplace can have a semi-seamless transition.

Remember it is important to immediately contact prospects and clients to informing them of the transition because it is very possible that the salesperson may be going to work for the competition, that’s the reality of the sales profession.

Poor Prospecting Attitude

Webster defines attitude as a relatively stable and enduring predisposition to behave or react in a characteristic way.

I am constantly finding that sales people have a tendency to pre-judge prospecting opportunities.  I strongly believe that everyone brings something to the table; they may not fit the profile of someone you would directly do business with, but they very well may have a strong center of influence. They may have the ability to introduce you to people they know, that could be highly beneficial to your business if your product or service is a good fit.  So before we develop a predetermined attitude about an individual or situation, take the time to go through the discovery process and see what opportunities exist.

A lot of people, while doing sales training and working in the prospecting arena, raise the question of when is the proper time to ask for a referral.  To keep it simple you’ll find that referrals will come your way when you have a very satisfied client. This which could be at the time of completion of the job or sometime after they have had an opportunity to have a positive experience with your product or service.

NOTE: We will be switching to Wednesdays for the blog and sales tip of the week for the next few months.