Why have a system for selling?
Take back control of your prospecting and sales strategy
Do you take an ad-hoc approach to selling? Read on if you want to find out why it is important for a business to have a sales system and the incredible impact it can have on your growth.
The traditional sale
Most sales people take the same approach to prospecting and selling. Generally, an all-too-familiar pattern developers. Something like this:
- Make lots of calls, go to lots of events, have lots of conversations
- Get excited when they hear any kind of buying signal or perceived interest
- Present their product or service (meeting/demo/proposal)
- Go for the close
- Chase, then chase, then chase again
As sales people we can get carried away. "I have a good feeling about this one! They seem really interested"
...however, sometime later that sinking feeling sets in and you start to wonder...
"Have they gone into witness protection? How come they aren't responding anymore?"
The traditional sales approach often results in the prospect going into hiding. A seemingly never ending chase is highly time consuming and generates poor sales results.
Who is in control?
Do you ever get the feeling the buyer is in control of the sale? Often the buyer wants to control the sale and they usually have their own internal process for dealing with sales people. Allowing them to take the lead can be fatal.
Having a clear system and controlling the sales process is really important. It is okay to let the buyer control the ‘content’ of the sale as long as we control the ‘structure’. When a sales person controls the process they come across as confident and knowledgeable while developing a positive business relationship based on mutual respect.
What are the signals that the buyer is in control and not us?
- The sales person is doing all the talking
- The buyer asks for ‘more information’. "Just send me an email and I will get back to you"
- The buyer says “call me next week” or “I will call you back tomorrow”
- They ask questions that essentially boils down to free consulting!
Playing our hand too early, allowing the prospect to dictate the course of the conversation or leaving the ball in the buyer's court is never a good idea. It will result in losing the deal and frustrating the sales person.
The result of a system
Having a system for sales tackles one of the biggest challenges all businesses have; regularly signing new clients, closing more business and generating greater profit.
By effectively leveraging a holistic sales system, you are able to:
- Differentiate yourself from the competition (so important!)
- Build rapport and find out what the buyer's real problems are
- Control and manage the process
- Give your time only to qualified prospects
- Consistently close more business
A systematic approach to selling breaks all the rules of traditional selling and enables businesses to close new clients month in, month out.
In my next post, I will go further into the issues of a traditional selling system and explore the importance of uncovering the real problems your prospect face.
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