I was browsing through a sales forum the other day and ran across the lament of a person new to complex selling that felt he was left dangling when his manager and mentor left the company. Currently, he's under quota and his new Sales Manager apparently has little or no interest in his development. He said he was committed to succeeding despite the circumstances and was looking for guidance from fellow forum members.

Yikes! What a dilemma. All I could imagine was a giant force field of obstacles (an invisible barrier) keeping him from becoming successful. First and foremost I had to applaud this person for taking responsibility for his own development. But what should he do besides look for another job?

If you have to figure out how to improve your sales effectiveness by yourself, start at the beginning of the sales cycle. Systematically trouble shoot your approach to selling to identify where things begin to break down. Next isolate the activities or tasks you're not performing well and work on them, then move to the next area. Don't jump around.

The Sales Cycle:

1. Demand creation
2. Winning and closing opportunities
3. Retaining customers/clients
4. Obtaining additional business and/or referrals from existing customers/clients
   

Here are a few high level sales cycle trouble shooting questions to start with.

Demand Creation:

1. Are you targeting the right prospects in your territory?
   
2. Are you effective at prospecting by phone and in person to fill the front side of the sales funnel - can you set appointments?
   
3. Are you setting appointments at the right levels in the prospect's organization?
4. Do you prospect consistently to keep the funnel full?
   

Winning and Closing Opportunities - The Sales Process

1. Are you effective at identifying and meeting all the people that have power and influence and do you understand their role in the opportunity?
2. How effective are your questioning and listening skills? Can you:
   

• Create Interest
• Evaluate the Situation
• Prioritize Objectives
• Propose Options
• Tailor an Agreement and close
  

Retaining customers/clients

1. Have you identified the metrics they will use to measure the success of the implementation?
2. Have you identified the metrics they will use to determine if the solution you sold meets performance expectations?
3. Have you scheduled periodic meeting during the installation and implementation phase to build satisfaction?
   

There's a lesson here for all of us. Be proactive - read books, blogs and articles, attend seminars and online webinars, hire a coach, or find a mentor regardless of your company's commitment to training. It's your career so take control of it.