Do you have a systematic approach to selling? What you can measure, you can then manage. So, if you don’t have a defined sales process, then how can you manage and refine one in order to become consistent in your performance?
The shotgun approach to selling does not provide you with the ability to become consistent in your performance. If you are constantly trying something different every time you’re in front of a customer, you are never allowing yourself the opportunity to become skilled in using a certain system. What needs to happen is you must systemize your approach.
Think about the steps you take when engaging in an activity. It could be a sport or a hobby. How do you know what to expect as an end result? Because you consistently performed the same way over and over again.
The same goes for perfecting the art of selling. Salespeople who follow a system are not only successful in generating more sales, but exert a lot less effort because they know what results to expect every time they follow their process. Salespeople who are disorganized in their presentation often leave a sales call confused and unsure of where they stand. This happens because they don’t know “where they have been” and what the next step should be or where they need to go.
Following a specific sequence, and controlling the steps through the selling process, is vital to an organized, professional sales effort. A system is what takes you from point A to point B with the least amount of risk or error. A system spells out what you need to accomplish whether you are cold calling or from the time you are first face to face with that customer until the time you leave the appointment. It is your strategy, which gives you the freedom in knowing what the outcome will be. When you have a system in place, there is no room for second-guessing.
The Strategy of Consistent Inconsistency
What you can measure, you can then manage. So, if you don’t have a defined sales process, then how can you manage and refine one in order to become consistent in your performance? How can you assess the steps in your selling strategy that are working well and uncover the parts of your sales process that need refinement? How can you uncover the holes that need to be filled when selling or the components in your selling system that are missing?
For example, when qualifying a prospect for the first time, if you don’t have a defined list qualifying questions that will provide you with the information you need to know about every prospect, then how can you identify the best practices or the questions you always need to ask in order to generate the results you want on a consistent basis? Instead, this strategy of consistent inconsistency leads to lost sales, inefficiency and is the leading cause of a sales slump.
There is a saying, “Begin with the end in mind.” Think about it. If you begin your sales process knowing where you want to wind up as an end result, and can even envision all the steps that it will take to get you there, you will have much more control over the outcome. It is like running a race. You know where you start and you know where you need to finish.
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