Do you track everything and make adjustments constantly? You should be. Personal and professional growth increases exponentially when you have specific goals you’re working towards. To reach those goals you need to have a process in place and be able to compare how you did this month versus last. Sales is the same thing. Build a process, trust that process, and reap the 5 benefits of a sales process.
I lay on the couch too much. I don’t exercise enough. I’m grossly out of shape. There is no way around it. I needed to workout. Therefore, about a month ago, because running and any other “cardio” was too hard, I started walking. I know, I sound like an old man. It kills me. I used to be super active. I played football, softball, skied, played basketball and golfed. I was always moving. But, something happened from the time I had got married, had kids, and started A Sales Growth5 benefit. I stopped moving so much.
I’m blessed to have amazing genes, to most people I look like the picture of health, but trust me. If you saw my Facebook Live about a year ago, when I tried to run a mile, you’d know the truth. I’m skinny-fat and have little to no cardio. If it weren’t so dire, it’d be kinda funny.
After walking for a month, I started to realize that it wasn’t enough. Yes, I was getting in 10k steps a day. Yes, that’s 2.5 miles every day, but I wasn’t sweating. I wasn’t increasing my heart rate, etc. I needed to do more.
For a little while, I started to run the last 200 yards. Then the last 300, and 400, etc. But, I wasn’t sure what it was working, and I didn’t even know if that was the approach.
Then a friend told me about Couch to 5k.
It’s an app that helps you slowly work your way up to running a 5k. That’s just about 3.1 miles. In my world, it might as well be a marathon.
So, I just started the other day, and I already feel more confident and excited that I will be able to run 3.1 miles in no time. Why? Because there is a process and I trust it.
LESSON 7 – Build Your Own Effective Sales Process and Trust It
If you want to sell better, start creating your own, repeatable processes that will get you to your goal. How do salespeople prepare to sell? Too many salespeople just do shit. They make calls. The write emails. They read books. They follow up on tasks, etc. But what is missing with most sales people is consistent, reliable, processes that increase the probability of making their numbers.
If you want to sell better, step back and analyze how you do what you do. Start learning to ask why? Why do you call when you call? Are they the right times? Why do you write the emails you write? Are they the correct emails? When do you prospect vs. follow up on existing pipeline opportunities? How do you manage open tasks? What tools have you/do you incorporate into your daily routine.
Why do you use the tools you use today? Why are you using the current cadence that you use? What are the outcomes you expect from each process? What happens if it’s not delivering? How are you identifying new companies to call, or connect with? How do you know when to change things up, etc.?
The best salespeople build repeatable sales processes that increase their probability of being successful. Take inventory of your day and evaluate how you execute. Where is there room for improvement? How can you maximize your chance of success? What’s your Couch to 5K process? What things can you do, repeatedly, that will get you more opportunities, accelerate the sales cycle, increase the average deal size and more.
5 Benefits of a Sales Process
Analytics – It’s impossible to know what changes or improvements are working if you don’t know where you started right? Today’s business world is, as we’ve said before, the show me economy. Everything is tracked, logged, analyzed, and tied back to revenue goals. Each marketing email you get is carefully analyzed for what worked and what didn’t. You know this. You need to be doing the same thing with your sales. Keep careful notes and spreadsheets on your calls and emails – what time did you call, what day, which Call to Action did you use, which question did you ask first?
Be relentless when it comes to data, and then make adjustments and see what changes.
Consistency – Similar to what I just mentioned, having a process that is repeatable is important. If you’re process isn’t repeatable it will be nearly impossible for you to know which changes have worked and which have not. Beyond that, consistency makes your life easier. Take the Couch to 5K example. The key to any new process is consistency – any diet, habit, task starts with a consistent approach. Having a detailed process in place makes this easier. You know exactly which tasks you need to accomplish and in what cadence.
Efficiency – When you have a standard process, you know exactly how each day is going to unfold. There is no sitting at your desk thinking about all the tasks you have to complete. You have a playbook and you are able to prioritize and take immediate action when you sit down. In addition, because you are able to compare your previous data you know how to complete each task in the most efficient way. You don’t waste time on tasks that haven’t worked in the past.
Improved Forecasting – Much like efficiency, having a repeatable process will eventually improve your forecasting ability. You’ll develop patterns, you’ll understand the language prospects are using as high probability deals or low probability deals. Furthermore, you’ll have a checklist to help gauge how healthy your deals are. If you have a 5, 6, or 7 step process and each of your deals has followed the same process, now you can compare and contrast what worked and what didn’t work in deals that closed and deals that didn’t.
You can identify the strengths and weaknesses or your process and make adjustments as you go.
Personal Development – Having clear goals and a structured process in place will help you grow as a sales professional. You can now compare your performance month over month, quarter over quarter, and year over year. You can track your progress against your own personal goals as well as your quota and business goals. If none of this makes sense to you, start small. Develop a quick, short term goal and give it a try. Be sure to make it specific, measurable, and attainable. You’ll be surprised how much more effective you are.
The times I’m most successful is when I put a solid process in place. It’s when I become an expert in “how” something can be done. When we become experts in how to do something we increase the probability of getting it done and done well. When you start to have a vision of how each deal will unfold, you’ll understand the importance of sales processes.
Start analyzing your work flows, your work processes and how you execute. Look to build effective, repeatable methods to do your job and then trust the process. Too often we underestimate the power of execution. It’s not enough to just do. We have to do it well also.
If you want to get better at selling, build your own processes and trust them.
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