Colleen’s Blog

Your sales process could be out of date or prone to more errors than you think. Recently, I worked with a sales VP who was looking to retool their entire sales process. He works with two sales managers who have been in their respective positions for a number of years. Due to this, their process has become more or less automatic. I helped them conduct an end to end sales process review, and here's what we discovered:

What's the easiest way to lose control of the sales process? I'm sure you've noticed, many salespeople hold off on presenting their price to a prospective client until the final written proposal. They don’t bring up pricing in person or before a written proposal is sent because they’re afraid to scare away their potential client. Ironically, by following this methodology, they end up scaring away the prospect anyway. If you avoid discussing pricing options until the very last moment, you make it too easy for the prospect to ignore you. They may love everything about you and what you have to offer, but if the amount they see in writing is not something they’re comfortable with, chances are they will simply avoid discussion rather than initiating it and trying to come to a solution. In their mind, it’s much easier to ignore you than to reach out to you for a chance at a better price. Your buyer fears rejection too! When this scenario unfolds, you lose complete control over the sales process and you make it very difficult for yourself to recover from it.

You may be familiar with the salesperson who claims they’re stuck, or complains that things don’t go their way. It’s the individual who never takes accountability for their own actions or results and is always quick to blame, but never ready to accept responsibility. It’s important to understand that you have complete control over your results and the choice always belongs to you. - You choose who to sell to - You choose how to sell - You choose what to sell Unhappy with the market that you are selling to? The onus is on you to find a more profitable market or distinguish yourself in such a way that makes you irresistible to your customers. If your current sales methods aren’t working, it’s your responsibility to discover new approaches and try something different. If your product has flaws that make it difficult to sell, it’s your job to overcome those obstacles as well (or begin selling a product that you are proud of). The problem with many salespeople is that they are able to point out the flaws with everyone and everything else, but aren’t able to self-diagnose anything. Subsequently, the same issues occur, the same mistakes are made and the poor results continue.