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By Percy Chong, 25th November 2015
It may seem simple and straight forward enough, just follow the trial and tested sales process to advance your sales opportunities…one step at a time until the final sales close. But many salespersons have lost numerous opportunities following the sales process without really considering each step before advancing to the next.
Knowing where you are (ie. which sales stage), or knowing what to do next is crucial in selling. If you cannot see or read the situation correctly, you cannot advance the sale or achieve the desired outcome. Further to this, the sale process should not be advance unless the requirements for each step are completely fulfilled.
Take the example of the referral stage of in the sales process. Almost every salesperson knows that he needs to continually ask for referrals from his clients or prospects. This step has been embedded in most organisations’ sales process. However, no amount of discipline and consistent asking will make any difference, unless the requirements for successful referral asking have been met. The requirements – your referrer needs to trust you, be obliged to you, or like you enough before he is ready to offer up any personal contacts for your prospecting. ASG have observed many salespersons simply going through the motion of asking for referrals, without addressing key requirements that makes it successful!
In the prospecting & approach stage, the value of the approach is not in the call itself, but really in the salesperson’s effectiveness in triggering the interest or intriguing the prospect, to secure their agreement for an appointment. Mindless goodwill, friendship or follow-up calls, will not amount to anything! Being hopeful and wishful of a sales appointment will not get you one, unless the prospect sees it in his interest to meet.
Salespersons need to wake up to the value or objective behind each set of sales activities, if they are to be successfully. There are more subtleties in the each stage of the sales process than most salespersons care to realised.
Have a questioning mind…seek out the purpose or objective for each set of sales activities or sales stage. Exercise and calibrate your judgment by doing case reviews for every sales meeting attended; for both successful as well as failed attempts. Identify if enough have been done, or the requirements for each sales stage have been achieved, before making any hasty decision to advance the sales opportunities to the next.
It is most heartbreaking to see hardworking and earnest salespersons suffer or “die” in the business because they failed to look deeper into what they do. Success in sales or any subject matter really lies in knowing what you are doing, and not just doing it blindly.
Article contributed by Percy Chong (through Asian Sales Guru) |