Tips: Moving thru the Process
My last blog post was the widest read ever. Over 500 people visited, commented, emailed me over the past 10-days. A lot of you have made individual appointments so we can get on the path to a more professional sales career! If you haven’t yet read that blog it is located at: http://wp.me/p3vcg8-5m
Keeping with the same topic in this weeks post, I want to focus on purpose. As professional sales people, everything we do with a prospect should have a purpose. That purpose is to develop more business. Regardless of what you sell, products or services, widgets or gizmos, a process is involved. There could be 4 identified steps to the sale or ten, but there are steps. After a prospect has been identified, the purpose is to move that person through that process as quickly and efficiently as possible. While an account manager fills out spreadsheets, forms and call reports, a professional sales person is determining the best strategy to employ to move the customer to the next steps. Each and every contact with that client should have a goal. The goal for the first phone call might be to simply make an appointment. During the appointment, the next goal might be to get the customer to commit to a demonstration. The best method of moving from step to step is to work in partnership with our clients. They need to take ownership in this process as well. Receiving a commitment from a prospect to act in any way like setting the appointment or gathering additional data, gets their skin in the game. As they move part of the process; they are not observing they are participating!
For example: If you are calling a prospect for an appointment, and your only reason to see them is because you are in the area, don’t waste yours or their time. Account Manager Sales Professional I was in the area, so I thought I would stop by to see if you needed anything. While I’m in the area, can you spend 10-minutes with me to review that engineering report we received? Can you recommend anyone else I need to see in your organization? While we are reviewing the engineering document, it would be great for both of us to get your engineering managers opinion of this study, can you arrange for them to be involved? Obviously the main purpose is to get an order. The process dictates when you will get it. One of my favorite sayings is that you eat an elephant one bite at a time. Keep that in mind as you develop your strategies and initiatives in the sales cycle.
If you are having problems with this concept, or getting your customers to become part of this process, call us at Pinnacle Sales!
(734) 516-0221