The 3 Answers that Solve the Toughest Sales Problems

Everyone knows that effective sales skills can turn opportunities into new business

But which skills? And which opportunities?

Often - salespeople take strategies for granted.

They don’t take the time to think what this sentence or that question might be for. They don't take the time to recognise the foundations of their method, and instead resort to well-worn tricks and phrases.

There's a generic word for the strategies involved in understanding our prospect’s problems. Selling – it’s that thing that salespeople do.

But the real magic is woven throughout the entire interaction (and it’s confusingly called selling as well - when it should really be referred to as customer attraction.)

Selling forms connections and leads to understanding. But customer attraction ensures that great selling accomplishes its mission.

Employing effective sales skills begins with the presumption that you can attract the right customers to support that strategy.

And great sales skills ensure that good customer attraction techniques don’t go to waste.

(For an idea of what I'm talking about, check out the breakthrough business development masterclass at this link - It’s small group, in-person and highly interactive, and invitations to attend go out today. Go take a look at the feedback we’ve had so far, and you'll see how powerful this content is.)

Here’s something to ponder….

If a prospect is worth meeting with, then the meeting should win you the business.

Some people get very relaxed about stats and industry averages.

“We meet 380 people and close 38 – that’s just the industry average”

?Is it? Or did you just waste your time on 342 bad meetings?

What if you’d spent all that time with people who actually wanted – and were ready - to buy, the thing that you were there to sell?

Now you might say;?

“But Chris – it’s just the way it is – our industry has a 1 in 10 close rate!”

OK, then – I’ll pose another question.

Why? Why is it 1 in 10?

Lets take a look at how we can improve those numbers...

Fix Just 1 of these 3 Problems to Get More Customers Instantly

When clients tell me that they need to grow their business, I find the best place to start is with the diagram on the right.

Whatever’s blocking growth can always be cleared by focusing on just one of these 3 sections at a time.

I mentioned above that everyone knows that effective sales skills can turn opportunities into new business

But which skills? Which opportunities?

Well, if you take a look at the 3 phrases below - then choose the one that resonates the most with your situation right now – I’ve detailed the solution to each one and included a couple of additional resources too, to help you solve them.

1. “I’d get loads more business, if the right prospects would just see me!”
2. “Booking meetings with prospects is easy, but not enough of them are buying”
3. “I’m dead busy, but I still can’t hit my sales target”

Remember - to get immediate results - you need to work on just one of these at a time – the most critical one. You can't get to work on putting right the "lesser" problems before you've corrected the big one.

“I’d Get Loads More Business, If the Right Prospects Would Just See Me!”

If this is your business roadblock, then your problem sits in the PRESENTATIONS section of the diagram.

• If all your business flows through a website (like Amazon) then you’ll need to improve VISITS – although this type of transaction rarely involves any form of sales team.
• On the other hand, if you sell your product or service with an online sales team – you are probably trying to book more?DEMO’S?with your potential client base.
• And when companies offer Business-to-Business products or services – the sales team usually wants to get a diary full of?FACE to FACE?meetings.

If you or your sales team are making statements that point towards the PRESENTATION circle, then you need to focus on your?Sales Prospecting ?skills and almost certainly require a deeper understanding of 21st century customer attraction techniques.

You need to develop a deeper understanding of the prospecting cycle – from start to finish –?and be able to draw an outline of your perfect customer profile, create a strategy for becoming commercially attractive – and know who to call, when to call them and what to say when you do.

Action Points for Your Next Team Meeting

Help your team to;

• Understand their personal sales targets and the size of opportunities they should be calling on to ensure the targets are hit in the time frame required
• Develop a prospecting and business development plan to help them build their pipeline
• Calculate the number of leads they need to achieve their targets
• Identify Key Players within target accounts
• Create a varied toolbox for recognising – and attracting – genuine business opportunities
• Build targeted prospect lists
• And ensure they leave with a step-by-step Prospecting Plan

Links that you may find useful?

The 2 Day Business Development Masterclass (UK)

One Strange Fact that Will Change the Way You Prospect Forever

“Booking meetings with prospects is easy, but not enough of them are buying”

If you hear your sales team say things like; “Booking meetings with prospects is easy, but not enough of them are buying” then their problem sits in the AGREEMENTS section.

I meet many business owners and sales directors who send their salespeople out to pre-booked, pre-qualified meetings – but then have to sit through sales meeting after sales meeting, while the sales team tell them that…?

“The leads you’re giving me – they just don’t want to buy what we’ve got – for the prices that we’re charging”.

Actually – to be fair – some of those prospects genuinely might not be your customers.

However, I’d bet good money that there was a larger number of those prospects that didn’t buy because the sales presentation didn’t resonate with them –?it wasn’t clear how you could solve their actual, day-to-day problems – and an equally large number who were genuinely considering becoming paying customers - but were put off by the way the salesperson dealt with them.?

So, if your sales team are making statements that point you towards the AGREEMENTS section of that diagram, then they need to work on improving their actual?Sales Skills ?and gaining a deeper understanding of the four-steps found in every single business transaction;

Earn the Right;?Ask the Appropriate Questions;?Solve the Problem;?Execute the Solution.

Your team need to understand how your prospects are actually making their buying decisions, while mastering the art of consultative questioning, then they need to put together a strategy to overcome all regularly occurring objections and recognise when and how to best close a sale.

Action Points for Your Next Team Meeting

Create some exercises that will help your team to;

• Understand how 21st century buyers make their decisions
• Set Best and Tolerable outcome targets for each call
• Build a series of exceptional consultative questions to uncover real needs and pain points
• Use real life examples and case studies to sell concepts and solutions
• Effectively overcome all regularly occurring objections
• Understand the process and importance of closing a sale
• And then ensure they leave with a thorough understanding of how your business helps its existing customers – and a deep set belief that there are others out there who would benefit from exactly the same solution.

Links that you may find useful

The 2 Day Business Development Masterclass (UK)

How to Close Every Genuine Sales Opportunity

“I’m Dead Busy, But I Still Can’t Hit My Sales Target”

?If you hear your sales team say things like;

“I’m dead Busy, But I Still Can’t Hit My Sales Target” or “I haven’t got enough time to look after the existing customers on my account list and prospect for new business” then their problem sits in the?COST?section.

As a definition of what I mean by COST?– I’m referring to anything that a salesperson has at their disposal that is expendable – in particular I’m talking about;?

• TIME
• MONEY
• EFFORT

The first question each member of your sales team need to ask themselves is;?

How much time should we allocate to make the most out of each opportunity?

But also – and possibly more importantly;

How much time have we actually got available to us to achieve it?

If?your sales team are making statements that point you towards a mismanagement of?TIME, MONEY or EFFORT, then they need to focus more on the planning and preparation stages of their?Business Development Strategy, build on their?Time Management?and?Account Management?skills, together with a?Structured Key Account Plan?and a more focused sense of?Direction and Vision.

On top of that, your team will probably benefit from an understanding of?the different forms of Account Portfolio Analysis (such as 80/20) – how to map out the way they are perceived by their account base (do buyers class you as; Critical, Strategic, Leverage or Commodity suppliers) – and how they should approach or improve those relationships moving forward.

Action Points for Your Next Team Meeting

Make sure you work through some exercises so that your team;

• Can give you a short sharp review of their entire portfolio & tell you where the biggest opportunities lie for new business
• Understand how 21st Century buyers make their decisions
• Only open their mouths to the “Blue Whale” opportunities that will feed them
• Are keeping their CRM system up to date so that it works for them and not as a reporting tool for the business
• Are embedding themselves as the trusted, primary supplier with all of their key accounts and opportunities
• And ensure they leave with a step-by-step plan for success

Links that you may find useful

The 2 Day Business Development Masterclass (UK)

What Do Your Sales Team Class as an Effective Call?

The Sales Managers Masterclass

Wishing you a fabulous week ahead - and I'll see you all back here in 7 short days.

Chris

PS:?We’ve just released the next UK dates for my?2 Day Business Development Masterclasses . If you’re want to get a head start on everybody else in your industry, I hope you’ll consider it.

PPS:?And if you're in Sales Management, we've opened registration for my one day?UK Sales Management Masterclasses ?again - if you've decided that you want to start running a self-motivated, entrepreneurial sales team that consistently makes you proud, I look forward to seeing you there

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