Introduction What are the barriers to your sales success? What gets in your way? No one can tell you what those barriers are because they differ for everyone. I can tell you, though, it’s not the company, the economy, or the boss. All barriers to success start right there in your head! The first step to overcoming the obstacles standing in the way of your goals is to identify what they are. Nothing can be done until you name them. Only then can you take the necessary steps to move those mountains, and it often takes outside help to identify your roadblocks. Insanity is doing the same behavior repeatedly yet expecting different results. The simple truth is that only when behavior changes will the results be any different. The problem is all behavior is purposeful; it happens for a reason. If you want to change people’s behavior in any real and lasting way, you must change the reason behind that behavior. The best investment you can make right now for immediate results is to teach your sales team new paradigms, different perspectives, and different skills. The Sales Focus ‘Sales Master Training” training philosophy is predicated on the fact that there is more to being successful than just techniques. Our training programs address the three components of success: Attitude, Behavior, and Techniques/Tactics. Concepts will be presented in informal lectures that draw upon audience participation for examples, questions, and discussions. Training is based on the idea that true learning occurs only when individuals discover something for themselves. We have adopted combining a leading training methodology with “Criterion Referenced Instruction” (CRI) with reinforcement training to create a skills-based program that provides not only a vehicle to acquire knowledge but also practice and skill checks which allow participants to demonstrate their ability to effectively execute the elements of the attitudes, behaviors, and techniques presented. Training programs should be based on objectives, skill checks, and reinforcement. Objectives include the conditions, actions, and criteria. In other words, objectives tell you what you are given to work with (conditions), what you must do (actions), and how you will know when you are successful (criteria) Proper training should always include the six key ingredients to sales success: Revenue Process Communications Motivation Personnel Culture The Topics to Cover include the following; 1. Managing The Proposal Process COMPETENCY: The participants will know how to oversee the proposal process, including the timing of it, the steps involved, and the success of proposal and presentation efforts. PURPOSE: To identify and define the proposal process and everyone’s involvement. 2. Negotiating COMPETENCY: The participants know that negotiating has specific purposes, steps, and skills and is central to closing the sale. PURPOSE: To provide an overview of the importance of negotiating and information about the objectives to be accomplished in the negotiating session and the steps and skills required to achieve those objectives. 3. Closing The Sale COMPETENCY: The participants will be aware of closing the sale criteria and how to fulfill them. PURPOSE: To provide a conceptual framework to obtain a clear YES or NO decision 4. Sales Process COMPETENCY: The participants will understand that selling is a process a systematic series of actions by which one develops an opportunity from start to finish, whether that finish is closing the sales or closing the file. PURPOSE: To remove the pitfall in the participant’s current selling system and ensure a clear conclusion, be it a “yes or “no” to each selling opportunity. Overcoming Barriers to Sales Success Barriers to sales success can be overcome by 1) identifying them, 2) admitting you have them and 3) believing you can get rid of them, 4) then submitting to a solution until you are back in control of your success. Wrong action >>Fire “C” Level Mgmt., take over, and change the direction and culture Wrong action >> Never hired a salesperson who claims they can bring a ‘book of business” Wrong action >> President and vice president spend 50% of their time in sales trying to fix “it” Wrong action >> Buy a list of leads and turn them over to the salespeople Wrong action >> Spend the money on marketing efforts that generate more leads Wrong action >> Expand into new geographic areas to gain more sales Wrong action >> Ask for a forecast from the sales department and work as if it were correct Wrong action >> Give salespeople their new quotas and expect them to achieve those quotas Needed Action = Build an Organization that Sells First Action = Build an Organization that Sells Best Action = Build an Organization that Sells Only Action = Build an Organization that Sells Conclusion Right Action…. Acknowledge that you have exhausted all possibilities of finding the solutions within your company’s key personnel or vendor base. It is time to turn to experts who can see the forest through the trees. The best advice we can give you is to crawl before you walk and walk before your run. There is an old business adage; “nothing happens till a sale is made.” That being true, let’s work on your current sales team. With today’s tough economic climate, every company needs to improve its selling success rate. Sales depend on the few individuals with the “Salespersons” title and the entire organization. You can’t wait to see the difference!
