Sales - 2014 Archive

As you are aware, everyone in your business is responsible for sales. Some are more directly involved than others, but everyone plays their role. We’ve looked at the foundation for the sales team; but what needs to be in place for the remaining staff members who are only indirectly involved...

Especially in sales, we see too many people wanting the magic pill. When your business falls behind on its sales goals it hurts. Profits are down, but then again so is cash flow and often times morale.   It's easy to see why everyone looks for that 7 foot bar to jump over, but your best bet is to take a moment and look for that 1 foot bar.  To get started make sure you read "Behind the Sales Curtain" and "Your Sales Process".

Last week we looked behind the curtain at pieces of the sales process that should be in place to help your business be more effective and flexible in its sales process. Now, we look to focus on pieces of the Sales Process that are external and the pieces that the client sees, hears, and touches. In the most effective sales processes, these external pieces connect seamlessly, giving the prospect or client the impression that purchasing the product or service is the natural and logical conclusion of the interaction. Pieces of the Sales Process puzzle we are going to focus on this week are scripts, agendas, and sales materials.

Over the last few months, we have looked at a number of different business areas; Recruiting, Lead Generation, and Customer Domination. This month we wanted to go back to a subject near and dear to all of our hearts, Sales. Without sales, businesses wither and die. We also know that creating sales isn't as easy as it may seem. There are steps the business has to take in order to sell its product or service efficiently and with confidence. In the coming weeks, we will look behind the curtain to see the prep work that goes into a solid sales process.

 

The sales process does not begin with a product or service. It begins with developing the 'behind the curtain' pieces of the process that create a foundation for success. A strong foundation creates opportunities to move forward with clarity, develop and hold accountable employees, and collect business intelligence that will allow for more focused efforts. While there can be many pieces to a strong foundation, here are three that require emphasis.