Tweet

There may never be a better time than now.

Written by: Todd Youngblood

Article Overview: The cold, hard fact is that for most of us, this economy has jacked up the challenge of selling more faster BIG TIME. I'll give 5 to 1 odds there are two things you wish you had already gotten done.

There may never be a better time than now.

I know, I know, you were really, really busy last year. Big opportunities were everywhere and the competition was tougher than ever. There was flat-out no time to finally get organized and consistently using a first-rate sales process/time management system. Even though formally reviewing the value, quality and above-and-beyond service you and your team provided to those top customers has been a priority forever, you simply never got around to it. AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

The time is now! Not that we wanted a break in the action, but the economy has just forced one down our throats. Use this business slowdown to solidify the future.

Clearly define and document your organization's sales process, map it into a CRM system and consistently use it to manage your time and sales activities.

Not to sound harsh, but... if you're one of those sales reps or managers who does not yet embrace the three core principles of sales process engineering, you might want to think about getting on the bus.

1. Continuous improvement of the sales process is fundamentally essential (...unless, of course, your customers will accept whatever you give them without question and your competitors are dedicated to mediocrity.)
   
   
2. Hard measurements - lots of them - are required to validate the amount and pace of your improvement. (Without hard numbers, you're guessing about the quality of your performance and blowing smoke at yourself.)
   
   
3. A well-defined sales process is a prerequisite but for determining meaningful metrics (If you can't describe what you're measuring it's by definition impossible to measure it!)

Implement a Sales Excellence Council using The YPS Group'sMethodical Sales Process as a starting point for defining your process. Map that process into a robust CRM system, train everybody on its use and then actually use it on a daily basis. (Just do it, for crying out loud!) Start measuring number of opportunities, dollar value of opportunities, percentage of opportunities that move to the next funnel stage and the cycle time for that movement. Generate reports to compare and contrast the performance of all reps on a monthly basis. Get started!

Prepare and deliver a high qualityKey Account Performance Summaryfor every one of your key accounts.

Go back and look at the "Build Loyalty" section of the YPS Methodical Sales Process. Repeat business from good customers is the key to long-term sales success. (Like you needed me to tell you that...) You went through a lot of trouble to deliver superior value to them over the past year, go through a little more to write it all down and review it. They won't remember unless you remind them. They won't appreciate your competitive differentiation unless you explain it to them - repeatedly.

Yes, this economic slowdown is painful, but it too shall pass. When things turn up, wouldn't it be nice to have a world-class sales process management system in place and humming? Along with a pack of loyal customers who appreciate how you hung in there with them?

Related Articles

Article Tags: blowing smoke, business slowdown, continuous improvement, core principles, crm system, li li, measurements, mediocrity, metrics, nbsp, pace, prerequisite, process engineering, s sales, sales reps, style text, text decoration, time management system, value quality, yps



Related Forum Posts
Re: What Do you Prefer More - Time or Money - I tried to answer this question, and I think it is just like what came first the egg or the hen. I want money, everybody loves money, money can buy you time, and some other things too (like food). Personally I know that if I had a bigger budget I could use it to save time and use the time I "created" for other tasks. But I want time too, there is never enough time, even if you have all the time in the world. I noticed that when I have busy busy days, I can manage my time better. Many people suffer from this problem, the more things we have to do, we can find more time to do them. So I want both, I want money to by me time to make more money for more time, and to travel around the world.
Re: Welcome, Mal Tindle, our new forum moderator - Hey Mal, Never feel guilty for taking time off and getting away. Sounds like you had a great time! I took my laptop on my last vacation, but the only "work" I did was Facebook-ing, uploading pictures and checking email. I think vacations should be a time to get away and enjoy the things we couldn't otherwise, which means not having to do any sort of work during that time.
Re: What Do You Outsource Mostly? - I haven't really done much outsourcing apart from some articles from time to time and the distribution of my article to the various directories which I really don't have much time for, but I think in the near future I will need to consider doing a bit more as I find it really difficult to try and do everything myself. MichelleJ
How do you balance your life? - How do you balance your life when you're an entrepreneur who also has a full-time job during the day? When do you have time to relax or have fun? Or spend time with family and friends? And more importantly, where do you get the energy to handle so many things? Thanks
Re: How much is social media part of your marketing strategy? - It's true, social network can take lot of time. But on the other side, they are no more only a marketing strategy, they are a way to find resources of fun and knowledge, that's why i use them. And from time to time i take advantages of it for business purpose.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Are You My Mentor

Top Ten Home-Based Businesses

What If You Had a 100% Success Rate?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.