Most sales organizations can be better-than-average some of the time. Very few are consistently superior all of the time. The key to consistent, superior performance is the utilization of systems.
Successful companies are built around systems.
Businesses operate according to systems in order to save time, reduce mistakes and maximize effectiveness. While almost every business has a system for operations, production, distribution, and accounting, when it comes to selling, many companies simply “wing it.” To be successful, a company should also have effective systems for prospecting and sales. Without these systems it is virtually impossible to build an effective sales force and chart a path for continuous improvement.
You need systems for both prospecting and selling.
Your prospecting system should consist of at least four different methods for filling your sales pipeline with strong sales opportunities. Of course, your selling system is designed to convert these opportunities into sales in the shortest amount of time.
Your selling system should guide the opportunities in your pipeline through the buying process from the initial contact to the close quickly and easily. This system should be aboveboard and completely straightforward – so much so such that you should feel comfortable sharing it with your prospect at the very start of the sales process. Your prospect should know what to expect at each and every step along the way.
The Client Builder Selling system enables you to properly diagnose the challenges and opportunities facing your prospects, uncover the parameters of what they are able and willing to invest along with their decision criteria and their process for making a final decision so that when you finally present your proposal, it hits the mark.
A selling system will save your most precious resource – Time.
Our systems ensure that you’ll only present your solutions to prospects that are qualified. This means that they have a problem you can help solve or an opportunity you can help capture. It means that they recognize and acknowledge the problem/opportunity and are committed to seeking a solution. It means that they are willing and able to invest the resources necessary to gain your help and implement a solution. It means that they are willing to give you access to the people who have the authority to make a final decision so that you can present them with a proposal and whatever else they need to make that decision.
By using our prospecting and selling systems faithfully, you’ll have the ability to shorten your selling cycle and increase your odds of closing every deal. Most importantly, you’ll be able to conserve your most precious resource – your time.
You also need other systems to support the sales effort.
Once you have a sales process in place, you’ll want to begin implementing other systems and processes that support a high performance sales organization including:
- A clearly defined target market, goals and expectations
- The establishment of key metrics
- A compensation plan that rewards the right behaviors
- A pipeline management tool
- An effective sales coaching process
- Sales-specific recruiting process and hiring tools
- An effective onboarding program and ramp-up for new salespeople
- Ongoing sales training focused on both skills and the conceptual barriers that impede sales performance. This training should include role-play.
- Regular sales meetings
These systems should not be complicated. In fact, the simpler they are the better. For example, your pipeline management tool could be as simple as a spreadsheet on a shared drive or as complicated as a high-end CRM system. The important thing is that they are put in place and used consistently.
