Oct/091
What is the most important step in the sales process?
We in the west are captivated by lists, especially what is on top of any given list. Every day, we see headlines like:
- “Top rated cars for safety”
- “Highest paid celebrities / sports stars / CEO’s”
- “Top 5 greenest water bottles”
And so on.
So this is a blog about sales process – shouldn’t there be an answer to the question of which step is most important of the 7 step sales process described in my book, “Mastering Your Sales Process?”
OK – I’ll bite. For the sake of sport, I’ll accept the premise of the question. Accordingly, here is the answer:
The most important step in the sales process is the NEXT step.
Meditate on that. I’ll post an elaboration next week.
-David
Oct/091
Why do athletes make great sales people?
I was asked this question at a recent seminar. It is a question that comes up a lot. In many sales organizations, one may see former athletes in sales roles, and wonder if there is a connection. In my experience, there is.
If you have ever considered yourself an athlete, then you know how it feels to show up at practice regardless of the weather, your mood, or any minor aches and pains you might have.
If you have ever considered yourself an athlete, then you know how it feels to work on the same fundamental skills again and again, never getting bored, but rather working towards execution with a Zen-like state of mindfulness and physically coordinated harmony.
In sales, the parallels are clear. Salespeople tend to be most successful when they have a disciplined process to follow. If, like a disciplined athlete, the sales person can show up every day, rain or shine, happy or sad, tired or energized, and just execute, results come.
Athletes and sales people have set backs. Executing with discipline is not the same as winning every time. However, those who show up, practice hard, play harder, learn from their mistakes, hone their skills and execute consistently along a proven yet flexible process do tend to win more than they lose.
Oct/090
The Meal Meeting
Over a 20+ year business career, I have a few small tricks that just seem to work every time. Here is one of my favorites.
When you have a business meeting that takes place during the course of a meal in a restaurant, when is the right time to start talking business? If you get it right, the meeting goes smoothly, and the business discussion is seen as a natural part of the flow of conversation. In this case, if you are the salesperson, or the one with something to ask for, the meeting is perceived as professional, and so are you. Before I tell you the right time, let’s look at some wrong times.
If you start talking business as soon as you see your colleague, you run the risk of interruptions. First the waiter comes over to offer menus. If you are in the middle of talking business, then you will need to decide when to stop and look at the menu. If it is right away, the conversation has an interruption. If the menus are set aside, a lot of time can go by before you look, which can become uncomfortable. It will take time for the food to be prepared, served, and eaten. If the process of getting this started is delayed, the meeting can wind up taking longer than expected. This does not strike anyone as professional.
Then there is the waiter. Until you place your order, the waiter will come by every few minutes to see if you are ready. More interruptions, more discomfort. So this is not OK.
On the other hand, if you wait too long, it can be hard to bridge the conversation over to business. If you have ordered and continue talking small talk, how and when do you get to business? Now the transition to business may seem awkward. Once the food comes, you have mouth-related interruptions that make getting started difficult to do.
After dessert just doesn’t leave enough time.
So when? The right answer is just after the waiter takes your order. This is a natural break that you can move on from in any direction. Say something like “Well, now that the hard work of choosing lunch is over, let’s talk about XYZ”. This allows you to control the meeting flow, get started on business early but not too early, and to have a few minutes while the food is prepared to get business started, so that when the meal does come, you are well enough into the business conversation that the serving of the meal is not an interruption.
This is a long blog post on what may seem a pretty subtle point, but if you have ever done this wrong, you know that it is important. Always target the exit of the waiter with your order as the right time, and you will almost always have a smooth transition.
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