Formula for Sales Templating
Formula for Sales Templating
Your entire sales force should participate in developing your department’s sales template. This involvement is vital if individual salespeople are to commit to using the template in their work. It also gives them a fuller understanding of the best way to sell your company’s products or service to their typical clients.
The first step is to identify a typical sale of your product. Pick a sale that is common to most, if not all, of your salespeople.
Next, ask each of your salespeople to analyze the process they follow in making the typical sale, step by step. Be aware that they may find this exercise difficult at first. They may be able to give you a big picture view of what they do, but only rarely can they give you an ordered, detailed account of what they do. You will also find that, even among the salespeople trained by your company, each person follows a slightly different process because of differences in personality and style.
When you have reviewed all the processes, identify the steps that make up the typical sale. For example:
Step 1: Analyze the marketplace and choose a target company.
Step 2: Research the target company.
Step 3: Set a meaningful appointment and identify your objectives for that appointment.
Step 4: Make the initial call.
Step 5: Write the proposal.
Step 6: Make the presentation.
With an outline in hand, fill in the details of each step with activities. This is where you and your salespeople need to evaluate all the material before you identify the "best practices." Don’t overlook details that seem too small to be important or ought to be "second nature." All too often, it is the little details that can make or break a sale, and what is second nature to one person can be a revelation to another. Documentation of each step should also include guidelines that your salespeople can use to determine whether they have completed the step. For example:
What questions have to be asked and answered? What qualifications does the prospect have to meet? What approvals are needed?
Now, you have a sales template—a model or map that your salespeople can follow for each and every sale they undertake. Keep in mind that the template is not carved in stone, in the sense that it may change as your product or marketplace changes. Also, it may need to be adjusted for those atypical cases that come along. But as a general rule, the basic outline and most of its details should work for everyone.
Formula for Sales Templating - To learn more about this author, visit Andrew Wall's Website.
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Sales templating is a technique that can help you develop a consistent sales process regardless of the background of your individual salespeople. What is sales templating? It is the technique by which you document the steps of the ideal typical sale. Sales templating allows you to capture the best practices and nuances of each of your salespeople to create a model sales process that all of them can follow. In addition to making your job as manager easier, sales templating will improve the performance of your sales force. By creating an overt, step-wise sales template or process, you give the salesperson the means to maintain control of the sales situation.
Your entire sales force should participate in developing your department’s sales template. This involvement is vital if individual salespeople are to commit to using the template in their work. It also gives them a fuller understanding of the best way to sell your company’s products or service to their typical clients.
The first step is to identify a typical sale of your product. Pick a sale that is common to most, if not all, of your salespeople.
Next, ask each of your salespeople to analyze the process they follow in making the typical sale, step by step. Be aware that they may find this exercise difficult at first. They may be able to give you a big picture view of what they do, but only rarely can they give you an ordered, detailed account of what they do. You will also find that, even among the salespeople trained by your company, each person follows a slightly different process because of differences in personality and style.
When you have reviewed all the processes, identify the steps that make up the typical sale. For example:
Step 1: Analyze the marketplace and choose a target company.
Step 2: Research the target company.
Step 3: Set a meaningful appointment and identify your objectives for that appointment.
Step 4: Make the initial call.
Step 5: Write the proposal.
Step 6: Make the presentation.
With an outline in hand, fill in the details of each step with activities. This is where you and your salespeople need to evaluate all the material before you identify the "best practices." Don’t overlook details that seem too small to be important or ought to be "second nature." All too often, it is the little details that can make or break a sale, and what is second nature to one person can be a revelation to another. Documentation of each step should also include guidelines that your salespeople can use to determine whether they have completed the step. For example:
What questions have to be asked and answered? What qualifications does the prospect have to meet? What approvals are needed?
Now, you have a sales template—a model or map that your salespeople can follow for each and every sale they undertake. Keep in mind that the template is not carved in stone, in the sense that it may change as your product or marketplace changes. Also, it may need to be adjusted for those atypical cases that come along. But as a general rule, the basic outline and most of its details should work for everyone.
Formula for Sales Templating - To learn more about this author, visit Andrew Wall's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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