Developing sales people into top performers is a common problem across businesses of all sizes for a variety of reasons.  Sales people are responsible for servicing existing clients, creating new business, and developing innovative ways to sell your products and solutions.  We also expect them to become relationship experts so that they have a better chance of retaining a customer when something goes wrong.

A Repeatable Sales Process

One very important area that is overlooked by companies large and small is teaching sales people “how to sell their products or services”….not from a feature/function/benefit standpoint, but rather teaching a process for sales people to follow that delivers the highest probability of closing.  Most of the time, this is left up to a sales manager or a pier, and we often look to top performers to teach their practices.  At one time or another every sales manager has said “I wish all of my sales people were like Steve”…Defining your specific sales process can make this a reality. 

A true sales process should guide your sales person through five major steps of account penetration:

Positioning	The way in which a sales person presents himself, the company and offerings is directly related to a sales outcome.  The processes in this step should place the sales person in a "listen and learn" environment rather than "show and tell".
Commitment	Early in the sales cycle sales people need to move a potential customer from "let me see" to "show me how".  Processes in this step should measure whether or not a potential customer is really interested and identify the appropriate next steps for the calling sales person.
Analysis	The more a sales person knows about a customer's business, the more effective his hit rate.  Questions that uncover customer concerns and encourage customers to share information should be included in this step. Do not assume everyone on the team asks the same questions!
Benefits Presentation	A mistake often made by sales people is neglecting to revisit "benefits" when creating their proposals.  Processes (and templates) should be in place to help sales people clearly communicate the value propositions of your company and products.
Closing	Nothing is more frustrating than waiting on a customer to make a decision after they were in a hurry to get your proposal.  This step should capture your best techniques for moving customers to a decision and guide sales people to ensure they have “covered all bases”.

 

Details for the steps described above include everything from sales scripts to checklists to help sales people understand and follow the best approach to securing business.  These processes should be developed around your company’s strategic objectives and once in place, can ensure that every sales person that is hired follows your company’s specific “best practices”. 

Once your company has developed and is implemented a structured sales process, you eliminate the confusion associated with going after new business and gain more control of the selling cycle.  Sales people know what to do next, and managers know exactly where to help.

Introducing a structured sales process will:

1. Ensure that your sales strategies are executed

2. Ensure that your company and products are presented consistently

3. Provide clarity to new hires and guidance to training departments

4. Help low performers adapt proven sales techniques

5. Make it easier for managers to improve specific selling skills

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The first thing every company should do is identify what sales practices are in place today.  Talk with all sales personnel to identify what sales process documentation exists and evaluate how it its being used.  Determine if the process supports the company’s strategies and whether or not sales people follow the steps.  Talk to your highest performers and capture their specific techniques and practices…it’s not what a good sales person “says” to an account, it is what he “does” that dictates results.  Evaluate your competition and even solicit customer input (e.g. “What is it particularly that we did that made you select us for the last project”).

Secondly, build a process.  Create a small team of sales and marketing personnel and document the optimum steps in your sales cycle.  Create sales aids and selling tools that engage customers in your sales process. Sometime involving a third party is need to speed the process and challenge traditional thinking, especially when you are looking to change the way to  go to market.

Finally, you need to test the process regularly as it is being developed and engage sales people early.  Have them become a part of the process and collect their feedback regularly.  Encourage them to try different approaches and tools and recognize successes immediately.

Good Selling!

Rick Betori

Rick Betori has spent over twenty years in the industrial market working with executive teams and sales departments of all sizes.  Prior to founding INSinc in 1995, Rick spent twelve years with Siemens and Reliance Electric in various sales and marketing management positions.  He played a major role in product introduction, strategic planning, and channel development. 

INSinc Management Consulting provides strategic, marketing and sales development services, with “hands-on” implementation for business-to-business organizations.  Concentrating on sales improvement, INSinc develops repeatable processes and tools that help sales professionals reposition themselves deeper into a customer’s business.  Visit www.insinc-us.com

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