During last night's TSE Masterclass, which I co-presented with the charming Linda Richardson, (You missed it?) we discussed how the most successful companies develop their sales teams, and I advanced my "formula for succes" - A+S+P+K=Success.
Today, I am going to take the "P"
From the Sales Director's perspective, developing a consultative sales process means developing a comprehensive, formal, realistic and step-by-step outline of what salespeople are expected to do.
This is just as appropriate for internal and totally reactive sales teams as it is for external pro-active ones. This outline includes the activity and calls they must make, the relationships they should establish with prospects, the documentation they should use in sales calls, the issues they must discuss and resolve with prospects and the tangible goals they must achieve in sequence along the path to each sale, in order to achieve maximum effectiveness.
It's only when such an outline is in place that sales management can be in a position to:
• Monitor the sales force's activity, progress and results,
• Assess issues as they arise and take appropriate action,
• Redirect individual sales representatives' efforts efficiently.
Although many organisations appreciate the importance of being customer-focused and talk in vague terms about their "consultative sales process", surprisingly few sales leaders invest the time and energy required to develop a formal sales process - a process that is at once detailed and resilient enough to guide their salespeople and permit effective management of their efforts.
A (Attitude)+S (Skills)+K (Knowledge will not guarantee success - you must always have a "P"
Today's News: Over at Top 10 SalesArticles, that old warhorse, Dave Kurlan has taken an early lead, but it is far too early to call - have you voted?
As some of you will have noticed, we recently re-launched The JF Consultancy site, and it really looks so much better - today we are going to add back the JF Resource Center, so lots of FREE articles, "how-to" guides, interviews etc
We are launching the latest TSE ebook- 147 pages, packed with articles from most of the Top Sales Experts. It will be on sale for $19.95, but you can grab your copy here for FREE on Friday. It looks like this:
Finally, two excellent upcoming TSE Masterclasses for you - normally $59.50, but I have a small number of FREE places for you.
First up today, one of the leading trade show experts in the world, Barry Siskind, is presenting:
"Maximizing Your Trade Show Budget in a Tough Economy" at 1:00 PM Eastern
Details and FREE registration here
Tomorrow, it is Cheryl Clausen presenting "How You Too can use the Top Producer's Secret Weapon"
Details and FREE registration here
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