Let’s be clear, no matter what your job title is or what you think you do…you are in sales.
I learned this lesson when I was about 18. A friend of mine during summer school at the local community college told me this: “if you have ever had sex, you are in sales.”
Which makes sense, yeah?
So let’s move past this idea that we are not all in sales.
We are.
Now to make the sales process easier for all of us, here are 10 ideas to think about to help you maximize your ability to take advantage of the sales process.
1. Know Your Buyer:
Not everyone can buy.
Not everyone is a prospect.
Not everyone is a good fit for your product or service.
You absolutely need to know your buyer and what is the compelling reason they have for working with you.
2. Prospect constantly:
People like to measure things constantly.
And, they will measure the size of their deals, the closing percentage, and any other number of variables.
But one thing you should be measuring is whether or not you are investing time each day on prospecting.
Measure that!
3. Make sure you add value in the sales process:
I’ve sat in meetings before where the person said any number of self serving comments.
But the real key to your sales process needs to be how you can create value from the very start.
One way that I add value is by asking questions that clarify what the challenge is that the person I am talking with is facing.
4. Build a more robust pipeline of opportunities:
Like I said above, you need to constantly prospect.
With more consistent prospecting also comes more opportunities to create a more robust pipeline of opportunities.
Make use of the different sales prospecting methods for increasing your opportunities. Check Crunchbase or similar online resources for acquiring ideas regarding finding prospects.
You need to understand what possibilities and opportunities are really in your pipeline and what each of them means so that you can make the best use of your time.
5. Sales is about building relationships:
At the core of the sales process is a relationship, it might be a strong one, a growing one, or a weak one.
The point you need to keep in mind is that you have to start building the relationship some where and at some time.
Sooner is better.
6. Presenting vs. Conversations:
Have you ever been in one of those sales presentations where the salesperson just attacks you with this presentation that talks about all the features and how great you will be if you just BUY!
Now change that around to what would it feel like to have a sales conversation where you investigate what the challenges you are facing are? What about how you can grow together? How you can create better opportunities?
Big difference right?
7. Closing:
Distance yourself from the Always Be Closing mindset.
That’s stupid.
You can’t always be closing.
You have to follow a sales pathway that leads from opening the conversation, to investigating what is going on, and leads to closing at the appropriate time.
If you are always closing, you can’t pay attention to what your prospect really needs and create real value.
8. Referrals are king:
Are you asking for referrals?
Why not?
Referrals make having conversations much easier.
9. Lead with “why?”
You need to lead with “why?”
Why do you need to change?
Why are you looking at making a new direction?
Why are you thinking about bringing in outside help?
10. Create a ladder to higher value:
You want to build a long term relationship.
Remember that.
To do that, you need to always be building a ladder to higher value.
You want people to grow into using you more intimately.
You might do that by starting with a free opportunity. You want to move people from free to most intimate. From stranger to friend, fan, and advocate.