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Dig Deeper For A Shorter Sales Cycle

Written by: Joe Ippolito

Article Overview: You can shorten your sales cycles and close business faster in spite of the economy. it's up to you to avoid.......

Dig Deeper For A Shorter Sales Cycle



Long drawn-out sales cycles are considered by many sales people as endemic to their industry. They get frustrated and often blame the prospect for the slow pace. But where does the blame really belong? Instead of pointing to outside forces, examine yourself and your sales process for improvement.

If you want to sell a product or service to a prospect who is already buying the same or similar product from another company, your first objective must be to stop leading with the features, benefits and promotional offers your marketing department has created. You must first understand and uncover the relationship your prospect has with their current supplier/provider. How do you do this? Dig deep! Develop thought-provoking questions to discover if a true opportunity exists for you in spite of this relationship. Can you get your prospect involved emotionally enough to change, take action and risk a new relationship?

For example, if I drive a Lexus, and you want to sell me a Mercedes, even if I believe the "features and benefits" of the Mercedes are better, and it is a "good deal," it might not be worth the acquisition process (time, effort, resources) to make a change. You have become a nice to have, not a must have. If digging for the emotional response is not a major objective of your call, you will be chasing a "suspect," not a "prospect."

Even worse, you will be busy with work that keeps you occupied but doesn't book sales. This may look like following up with suspects who say they are interested, though no clear-cut business opportunities have been uncovered. Or, you might be developing proposals before clear budget

parameters and decision-making criteria have been identified. And now you're being strung along by accepting "think it overs" or "call me in two weeks," and not understanding that you are not on the road to a sale, but a slow "no."

The key is not just having a full pipeline, but to keep it flowing. Make sure you invest your time and resources with the prospects. That deserve your attention, and you just might shorten your sales cycle.

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Article Tags: acquisition, budget, business opportunities, emotional response, endemic, lexus, marketing department, mercedes, nbsp, objective, parameters, proposals, relationship, risk, sales cycles, slow pace, spite, time effort, true opportunity



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