All change is hard, but developing a routine is key. Today we’re taking a book from a personal running journey, stepping up from an aimless routine, and crafting a killer sales process. Ditch the old playbook, get your hands dirty, and let’s build a rock-solid sales strategy.
A Personal Journey Towards Improvement
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 Guy. I stopped moving so much.
Acknowledging the Need for Change
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.
The First Steps: Walking Towards a Goal
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.
Evolving the Routine
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.
Discovering a Structured 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.
Trusting the Process
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.
Building and Trusting Your Sales Process
If you want to sell better, start creating your own, repeatable processes that will get you to your goal. Too many salespeople just do things without strategy. They make calls, write emails, read books, and follow up on tasks, etc. But what is missing with most salespeople is consistent, reliable, processes that increase the probability of making their numbers.
Analyzing Sales Techniques
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.?
Creating Repeatable Sales Processes
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.
Mastery Through Process and Execution
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. Start analyzing your workflows, 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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