FOUR WINNING WAYS TO MEET YOUR NUMBERS

Faced with ever-looming deadlines, salespeople are under constant pressure to meet quota and revenue targets. Delivering new, larger clients is always top of mind. This may tempt individuals, and their sales managers, to consider pulling in any business possible – whether it produces a Win-Win result or not.

Defaulting to a situation in which the salesperson closes a sale that is not good for the customer or to one where the buyer gets significant advantages, such as an unsustainable discount, just to make your numbers is short sighted. Ideally, every sale is a positive for both the buyer and the seller. Any sale in which one party “loses” ultimately harms the relationship – and the potential for future business with the customer.
Proactive Options
 Top-performers adhere to a process to put the right resources into the right opportunities. So if your sales funnel is clogged – or empty – get back to basics by examining your sales process. Ask yourself whether you have missed steps or whether you have asked the hard questions, such as:

• Ask: Does your sales process allow for easy review and offer insights into your opportunities? Where are you spending your time?
  • Consider: From prospecting, to deal selection to close, a strong sales process gives salespeople a framework and logical, repeatable steps to follow that includes a way to score and rank each opportunity.
• Ask: Which opportunities are truly viable? Which prospects fit your company’s Ideal Customer Profile?  
  • Consider: Pursuing the right deals – the ones that have a higher probability of closing – increases your Win-Win potential.
• Ask: Are you ignoring danger signs? Have you been able to ask prospects tough questions – and get straight answers?
  • Consider: Evasive, incomplete responses hint at underlying issues that may range from budgets to competitors.
• Ask: Are you talking to the right people – those who make the decision to buy?
• Consider: Building numerous relationships within a customer’s organization is a key factor in successful complex selling situations.

A strong sales process allows you to spend your limited selling time on opportunities most likely to result in closed sales. Any outcome other than a Win-Win should be unacceptable. Making a sale now may produce immediate revenue, but what about next year? Maintaining and expanding an existing relationship can be an efficient, and profitable, use of your time. Meeting short-term requirements at the expense of long-term gains may doom future business.