ARE YOU THE CEO OF YOUR SALES PROCESS AND INNOVATION
Since my December holiday and being back in the sales saddle, I have been thinking about something very personal and foundational to my core beliefs, my sense of purpose in this world. That’s what I want to talk to you candidly
about today.
The core of what your business does is sales and innovation. The key is to have a great, tested, proven, and repeatable sales process that can be performed repeatedly. From that sales process, you need to continue to listen to feedback from prospects and clients and innovate your product offerings and services. If you offer relatively the same products, services, and information as when you started, you are in danger of being disrupted. You need to be skating to where the puck is going, not to the puck.
To remind myself of this every day, I just look up at the plaque above my desk, the one that has been in every office I’ve occupied since the late ’80s when I first started in business – it simply
states, “Nothing Happens Until Someone Sells Something!” So when I get caught up on paperwork, staff issues, or business, I look at the sign and call a customer or prospect.
I am grateful I learned this early in business. We are in business to sell period. Sales measure the value of our business. It is how we keep score.
How do you approach your business and selling your goods and services? Is it
something you don’t want to do or have done to you? Or do you love it? Do you enjoy the
process and closing the sale? Do you get that tingly feeling inside when you do, and do
you enjoy and learn from great salespeople selling to you? You can learn from
every sales interaction, good and evil, and I put myself in these situations to learn. That’s because I decided at a very young age that no one would control my income and freedom, and, at the end of the day, it was up to me and my ability to close the sale.
I know in today’s world, for some, selling has become a dirty word, but I have no
idea why! I realize that they are lulled into thinking that they’re selling and marketing
by posting on Facebook group chats, putting together an online funnel that will “make
millions,” and doing “social selling” (I still don’t understand what that means!).
These things are all the rage and in vogue. However, you still have to sell, face to face
or on the phone. You still need to create a well-thought-out and persuasive sales
presentation, and you and your team must practice and hone this presentation. You still
need to think through objections and then come up with rebuttals to those objections.
Scripts must be written, tested in the marketplace, and then memorized and used.
The craft of selling must be honed, practiced, and honored daily in the market,
both in your thoughts and actions. You must have a heart-to-heart and honest
conversation in the mirror and ask yourself if you like selling. Are you good at it – and if the answer is no, then you must either change your thinking and paradigm
about selling OR hire a strong salesperson or sales force tomorrow.
A company’s No.1 sales killer does not have a CEO/leader who is sales focused
and creates a “sales-positive environment.” The second Killer of a company is the “We have always done it that way.” mentality
It comes down to this core tenet: If you believe in what your product and service
does for your customers, clients, or patients… and if your company is the best choice in the
marketplace for your goods and services…and you and your staff can service them
better than any competitor – in essence, your value proposition is beyond reproach and the
benefits they receive are true – then it is your duty and calling to sell to them, sell with
elegance and dignity, but most important, sell with pride.
In one of my businesses, we used to say, “You get no benefit from the ad you never run.” you see, the only time the customers get the benefits that you have built into your products and services is when they buy from you. They don’t get those advantages and solutions if your
deliverables remain on the shelves and are never bought.
So, we end where we began: “Nothing Happens Until Someone Sells Something!”
Most businesses never reach their full potential, and owners never
maximize their income and wealth – all because they possess and have documented a proven and repeatable sales process and drill and practice either themself or their team daily the art of sales, closing, and discovery.
You started your business because you knew you could do
“it” better and differently. To quote Ayn Rand, “you are one of the producers of society,”
so go out there and sell your goods and services. And I want to hear all about
your success!
All the best and happy selling,
Business is too difficult at times not to have fun and make a considerable profit. Your future bank, self, and your family will thank you. If you ever want to talk this through a sales issue, email me at nick@saleperformanceteam.com
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