Shorten the Sales Cycle

Guest post by: Richardson
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Testing the follow-up on great content-marketing campaigns: Most companies fall flat - By Richardson

Recently,in a webinar with a group of high-performing salespeople and technical specialists, a salesperson asked:

Salesperson: "My company's number one goal is to shorten the sales cycle. How can I do that?"

His question was timely and challenging. It seems as if your customers' number one goal is to lengthen it! The economy and an environment of heightened skepticism have doubled or even tripled the length of the sales cycle in many industries.

So what can you do that is in your control to accelerate the close?

1. Early on, qualify more diligently.

Position every qualifying question from the perspective of

meeting the customer's need. Find out:
Budget - Has it been allocated? How much? Who

controls it?
Time Frame - What are the timelines to develop and

implement? (In today's world, the two schedules can

be very different.)
Compelling Event - "Must do" dates are a blessing and the

absence of one can signal a long decision cycle.
Decision-making Process - Who will be involved in the

decision - economic, technical, users, and other

influencers? Clarify the buying process and steps.

2. Understand the BUSINESS need that your solution will address.

How will your solution help your customer achieve his/her

business objectives?

3. Develop a compelling Value Proposition to show ROI (ideally year

one or sooner).

4. Identify milestones of the sales process so you can measure

progress against them.

5. Set a call objective that is measurable for every meeting - face-

to-face or virtual. And debrief each meeting against the

objective.

6. Continue to check for change.

7. If things slow down, ask the hard qualifying questions again, but

start with the driving need - is it still a priority? Tactfully ask

questions to multiple customers.

8. Develop a coach! Almost nothing will help you win the deal and

know where things really stand than a well-placed coach.

9. Position your benefits and ask for the business.

10. Know when to put a deal on the back burner or no burner and

when to try to resuscitate it.

Linda Richardson is a New York Times Best Selling Author and founder of the Richardson Company, a leading Sales Training and performance improvement company.

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Testing the follow-up on great content-marketing campaigns: Most companies fall flat - By Richardson

About the Author: Richardson

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Linda 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
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