Sales Process to Untap Selling Potential

Because of a declining demand for our online webcast, PSA has decided to discontinue that option. On September 6th, join us in person as Jim Holmes gives his presentation. See below for details and registration:

Note our new location:

Minnesota Bank and Trust, 9800 Bren Road, Suite 200, Minnetonka, MN 55343

Often people look to get a sales tip or two and other times they are looking to make significant improvements to their overall sales performance. Here are some revealing facts about even the most experienced sales teams:

62% of salespeople fail to earn the right to ask for a commitment
86% of salespeople ask the wrong questions and miss opportunities
82% of salespeople fail to differentiate themselves from competitors
99% of salespeople do not set the right objective for sales calls
95% of salespeople talk too much and listen to little

Any of these sound familiar?

Ask a results-focused sales leader, “What do your salespeople need most right now?” and the answer will likely be, “Sales strategy! They need better account plans.” This explains why so many companies invest so heavily in help for the sales team to figure out the “who, what, when, and why” of their deals: who they need to contact, what do they need to accomplish, when do they need to act, and why these actions matter. There’s just one problem: where’s the “how?”

Another challenge with many organizations is that the “sales cycle” often is a series of unrelated steps and often inconsistent from rep to rep. When the sales cycle is well-defined and truly represents your business model, reps are better able to manage the complex process from identifying prospects to gaining new customers in a much faster time frame.

When managers and reps talk about shorter sales cycles there are a number of factors that surface that seem to extend sales cycles. Most common are a lack of a defined sales process, they also a lack effective call planning and lastly, a failure to gain ongoing commitments on the part of the prospect …. Ineffective execution in any of these areas can lead to longer or worst, lost sales cycles. A better sales process teaches sales reps how to use selling skills that have the greatest impact on productivity. When salespeople don’t follow a consistent process, it has a detrimental effect on their ability to:

Win more deals
Drive faster deals
Build fatter deals

If successful sales organizations have a secret sauce…it’s a defined sales process the sales team can rely on – even in the most pressure-packed selling situations.

How does a defined sales process compare to your world? Take time figure it out!

Jim Holmes is a retired Vice President and Certified Training Consultant for The Sales Board and Action Selling. Jim has more than 35 years’ experience in sales, marketing, product management and business development, in start-ups, SMB and Fortune 100 sales environments.

Jim has trained numerous sales organizations in a wide variety of vertical markets. With an extensive business background, he has worked with start-ups, run-ups, roll-ups and blow-ups and every type of sales organization. Jim has earned numerous professional and technical designations and attained his MBA degree from Eastern University in Philadelphia, PA.

Connect at holmesjames2@gmail.com

Date: Friday, September 6, 2024

Time: 7:30 – 9:15 a.m.

Location: Minnesota Bank & Trust, 9800 Bren Road, Suite 200, Minnetonka MN 55343 – Light breakfast provided.