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How's Your Sales Software?

Written by: Wayne Berry

Article Overview: Are you off-track sometimes when you try to close the sale? Like today’s roads, conditions in today’s market place have changed in recent years and like my old GPS with out of date map software, if we are not operating with up-to-date mental sales software, we may not arrive at the destination we had in mind, the sale. Is your sales software (skills) up to date?

How's Your Sales Software?

Are you off-track sometimes when you try to close the sale?

Last week I traveled to a speaking engagement in my car. It was a 2 hour journey and involved going through some of Melbourne's suburbs I was unfamiliar with.

I’ve had GPSs in my vehicles for years now but had just bought my partner Laura one of the new little handheld units. I thought I might take it along to see how it worked and compare it’s performance to my GPS.

So I entered the destination in both units and set off. Both give voice instructions (female voice) and I was surprised when they soon started to disagree about which way I should go.

Being more familiar with my own, I decided to go with what mine said, rather than the new unit. Laura’s GPS protested insisting several times that I make a U-turn. After a few minutes I noticed that mine was sending me in the wrong direction and then she had me enter a freeway only to get off at the first exit. Then she asked me to get back on again. I started to doubt what she was saying and soon decided she was having a bad day!

Some sales people have "bad days" for the same reason

Instead I decided to listen to the other newer GPS and soon she had me on back on track again.

This scenario was repeated several times within the next 30 minutes. Finally I turned the volume down on mine and just let the new little unit guide me. It guided me perfectly there and back. I was impressed!

During the trip I started to wonder why my GPS was so confused and suddenly realised that some of these roads and freeways I was now on were fairly new and were not in the my old GPS. No wonder she was confused.

How's your "software"? Up-to-date?

I had not updated my GPS’s software for at least 3 years. I didn’t think it was that important, but it was.

Thank goodness I had the new little unit with me with up-to-date software installed, or I most surely would not have reached my destination on time for my speaking engagement. You see I haven’t carried an old fashioned street directory in years, so I had no back up.

As I worked with that group of sales people that afternoon at the conference, it suddenly occurred to me that many of the sales people I work with have not updated their “selling skills software” for years.

As a consequence, they are often way of course as they try to close a sale with a prospect.

Like today’s roads, conditions in today’s market place have changed over recent years and like my old GPS, if we are not operating with up-to-date mental software, we may not arrive at the destination we had in mind, a sale.

Is your "software" out of date?

The old software of 5, 10, 15 years ago, on how to prospect, how to conduct a sales interview, how to make a presentation and how to close the sale is way out of date.

One of the things I enjoy most about the work I do, is receiving emails from sales people and sales managers with stories about how they have applied the strategies (software) I shared with them and how this has helped them to close extra sales.

Updating our sales software with up-to-date, leading-edge selling skills really pays off.

So how’s your software? Have you updated it recently?

Are you operating with the best available software?

Or bumping around in the dark and sometimes going in circles?

I hope not. As I discovered, it’s false economy not to update the software regularly.

Unnecessarily missing out on sales, is far more costly than investing in some good sales training.

Have a great week. Make it a great week!

Wayne Berry CSP

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Article Tags: 3 years, 30 minutes, female voice, few minutes, first exit, freeway, freeways, goodness, gps, handheld units, having a bad day, journey, melbourne, old fashion, several times, speaking engagement, u turn, voice instructions, wrong direction



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