Whether as a sales professional, or sales consultant, I've always been trying to convince someone, somewhere that they should buy what I have to sell. I’ve come to realize that everyone is a salesperson at some point in their career. In fact, it’s usually during those times when you believe in something so strongly, that your best sales efforts come out. So, is there any way to condense sales into a simple three step process, one that everyone can understand? Yes there is and it's called: Identify - Pursue - Close
Everyone is a SalesPerson
When you’re pursuing that new job, you sell yourself, your experience and your capabilities. When you’re trying to secure that new business credit line or loan, you are in essence selling your company’s attributes, and your ability to pay that loan off.
Even when I am working with manufacturers trying to explain cycle time analysis, system flow, proper production work station set-up, and how to increase production throughput, I am in essence selling ideas and concepts. When you stop and think about it, we are all salespeople at some point in time.
Is Sales Difficult?
While the act of selling may be difficult, the process of selling shouldn't be. If someone can sell, then they need to keep their sales process simple. This is ultimately why the "Identify-Pursue-Close" model is so important and so easy to remember. All you need to do is continually ask yourself if you've identified the right person, if you're pursuing the right opportunity and if you've done enough to win the business.
1. Identify: "Am I Speaking With the Right Person?"
When it comes to business-to-business sales, the person who makes the final decision, or the most important person making the decision, is never in the same position from one company to the next. What do I mean by this? Well, in one company, it might be best to deal with the director of purchasing. In another, you might need to deal directly with the head of engineering, product development, project and product management, manufacturing, or even the owner and president of the company.
The key is to identify the decision maker you should be speaking with at that specific account. The most important question you must ask is “Am I speaking with the right person?”. If that means you have to ask that person what their sphere of influence is in terms of decision making, then so be it.
Don’t be afraid to ask the questions that need to be asked. It is your job to service the customer, and if you are talking with someone who can’t help you, then you can’t help them.
Learn about the importance of defending price and dealing with threats in business-to-business negotiation.
2. Pursue: "Am I Pursuing the Right Opportunity?"
Speaking with the right person is the first important step, but the second is to make sure you are pursuing the right opportunity. Most importantly, identify all the opportunities – and not just the immediate one staring at you in the face. When customers speak of their problems, they are opening up a world of information, and keys to succeeding in sales with their account. Their subtle hints and innuendo about suppliers who have let them down, or the trouble they got in with their boss for ordering the wrong parts, are all little keys to success.
Listening is one thing, but learning to listen to these keys is another. Broaden your horizons. Dealing with a customer who isn’t giving you a direct opening to pursue business, but always seems to be talking about his “problems” is the opening you need to succeed. What can you, and your company, do to resolve these problems?
3. Close: “Have I done enough to win the business?”
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about sales, and that includes dealing with original equipment manufacturers and large Telecom companies, it’s that you can’t force a customer to say “yes”. In fact, if you spend too much time trying to turn a “no”, into a “yes”, you’ll end up getting customers to order something they may not want or need – and that will come back to haunt you. Now, I am not saying you give up. What I am saying, is that if you’ve done everything correct, then the sale will take care of itself.
There is an important reason why the customer is not ordering. True, some of the reasons may have to do with your inability to properly address their needs and concerns. However, in a number of cases, the decision not to purchase from you could have absolutely nothing at all to do with your company or your offering. There could be extenuating circumstances that simply won’t allow them to buy your product. Sales is less about turning “no” into “yes”, and more about finding out why the answer is “no” and using that information to turn it into a “yes” the next time around.
Part of winning business, and keeping it, involves defending your position as the incumbent supplier. To learn more, please go here.
If you can sell, and sell well, then you need to simplify how you sell. It's not uncommon for salespeople to fail simply because they ignore the importance of a sales process. In fact, in many cases these individuals are excellent at selling but lack a process that makes sure they are properly pursuing the right opportunities.
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