Nov
16

By CommenceCRM

Don’t Start – Then You Can’t Lose

This is a Sales Tip of the Week from guest poster Shulman & Associates.

The STORY:

Do any of these scenarios seem familiar?

Bill knew he should do some prospecting, but it was getting near the end of the week.  Heck, he thought, most of the people I’d call will be thinking about the weekend.  Might as well put it off until Monday.  Or actually, Tuesday would be better.  On Monday I’m sure there will be a ton of stuff on their desks, and they definitely won’t have time for me.  Yeah, hit them on Tuesday between 10 and 12.  That’s the ticket.  But maybe mid-afternoon would be better.  I’ll have to think about that over the weekend.

Jane, the Sales Manager for a sales force of 24, knew she could increase sales if only everyone followed the same sales strategy.  With this in mind and the blessing of upper management, she had scheduled all of the salespeople to attend a mandatory week-long sales training session.  Once that happens, she decided, then we can really start turning some numbers.  Now all she wondered about was how to make sure that no one wiggled out of the mandatory meeting.  She had, over the past day, decided on the steps to take if someone tried.

Nick, during the past two months, had watched his sales slide into a black hole.  At first he figured it was the competition from across town that was causing it, but now he wondered.  He was spending more time than ever before with prospects and former customers, actually tons of time, and with poor results.  He was losing them all.  “What am I doing wrong?” he wondered.  I chat them up, and they dump me.  All the time I spend with them and nothing happens.

The RESULT:

All three examples above perfectly portray “not starting.”  If you don’t start the sale, you can’t lose the sale.  And losing is defined by 90% of the salespeople as “not getting the sale” or to put it another way, “I got a no.”

Getting a “no” is not losing.  Getting a “no” is success.  Getting a “no” allows you to go out and find a “yes.”

DISCUSSION:

There are hundreds of ways to avoid “starting,” and every one of them will seem perfectly reasonable at the time.

Bill wanted to make sure that his prospecting was done in a way to get the best results.  He was convinced he was approaching it correctly.  Result – no prospecting until next week.  And, does next week ever arrive?

Jane truly believed that once everyone attended the sales training, sales would go up.  Result – no sales were expected in the meantime.  But Jane was doing her job.

Nick felt that he should concentrate on establishing rapport with prospects.  He believed that the more rapport he established, the higher the likelihood of a sale.  Result – since all he was doing was establishing rapport, he never got around to selling.

APPROACH:

Just for the moment consider that you are a baseball player.  You can take batting practice for weeks.  But anything you hit during practice doesn’t count.  The only thing that counts is standing at the plate during a game.  Fortunately for the baseball player, he is eventually forced to stand at the plate and do something.

Unfortunately, salespeople are not forced to “stand at the plate” and do something.  Short of running out of money and not being able to pay bills, salespeople and Sales Managers will have the best reasons in the world to avoid starting.

How do you start more often than not?  By recognizing those behavior patterns that fill up your sales time and do nothing for you.  Write down how many hours you work a month.  Now keep track for a full month of how much time you directly spend with prospects.  Compare the two.  Then decide if you are “starting” or just “practicing.”

THOUGHT:

Start often.  The sooner you get a “no,” the sooner you can get the “yes.”  Start often.

About the author:

Shulman & Associates is a professional development firm specializing in sales and management training and sales force evaluation. Visit their website to register for a FREE Sales Training Workshop. Learn how to increase sales, improve margins, and accelerate new business development. Breakfast is included in this workshop.

To view the latest Sales Tip of the Week please click on the link below:

SALES TIP OF THE WEEK

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