8 Steps to Move Your
Sales Cycle Forward in Q4
Do You Feel You Are
Pushing a Rock Up the Hill to Close More Business?
by
Paul DiModica
In Greek mythology, there is a legend
that the gods became mad at a criminal by the name of
Sisyphus, the son of the king of Thessaly. As
punishment for his deeds, he was sentenced to
continuously roll a boulder up a hill for eternity.
Trying to move forecasted sales opportunities forward
can feel that way. Here are 8 action steps you can take
to move business deals ahead.
1. Find your prospect's pain and be a doctor!
In today's economy, prospects are buying products and
services that improve corporate earnings. It is the pain
that gets the funding. Clients are paying for surgery,
not band-aids. During your client discovery
conversations, you must focus on finding the prospect's
biggest pain so you can be a doctor and fix it with your
product or service. If you don't know what your
prospect's biggest wound is, then you will not get the
deal. People are spending money, but only on high
priority projects. Be the doctor, find the pain, and fix
it.
2. Talk to prospects with titles of VP or
higher.
Mid-level managers and directors in small
privately-owned firms and Fortune 1000 companies are not
the decision makers. Bypass them immediately and go
directly to VP's or above. My general rule of thumb in
sales is, if the person you're dealing with does not
have at least a VP title, then you do not have a
qualified prospect for your sales forecast.
3. Hand-deliver every proposal and discuss it
in person.
When selling products and services, set up an
appointment to hand-deliver your proposal and discuss
the business details. Email and overnight delivery
services have reduced the personal closing techniques
and sales skills of salespeople during the last fifteen
years. You need to walk through the proposal in person
with the prospect to keep the one-to-one relationship
perpetuating forward as you deal with the prospect's
objections. Hand-deliver all proposals and you will
close more deals.
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4. Offer pricing options over time to
initiate purchases.
Companies need to offer better financing terms to
their prospects to spur purchases. As long as you are
comfortable with the prospect's business viability,
stretching payments over time (while delivering the
product or service on the original schedule) may close a
tabled deal.
5. Cut up your offering into time pieces.
Another method to reduce the prospect's up-front
investment is to cut your project's price point into
smaller more digestible pieces. Find out what your
prospect's current budget cycle is and spread their
investment over multiple fiscal quarters (i.e., Phase 1
during Q2, Phase 2 during Q3, etc.)
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6. Turn your
product into a service.
At times, companies postpone capital investments that
have been assigned as a budget item because of their
perceived high cost. To bypass the capital budget item
issue, turn your product into a service and sell it as a
cash flow investment option (i.e., selling application
software as a multiple-year license that is paid
monthly, etc.).
7. Offer a discount that is attached to a
specific date.
Giving customers a real discount to close business by
a specific date may push a hesitating buyer to invest
now instead of later. However, it must be a real
discount and the date needs to be enforced. Letting the
client buy later at the discount price makes you lose
all credibility. (P.S. Remind your CFO that discounting
to get revenue is better than having no revenue.)
8. Give a bonus and add value.
People who make buying decisions are just like you
and I. They buy houses and cars and vacations. Like you
and I, they want a great deal. One way to repackage your
price point is to give something for free (tied to a
purchase date) that clients value highly (i.e., sell an
18-month maintenance agreement for a 12-month price or
give them a free service, etc.).
Selling has never been easy. To grow sales,
successful firms need to modify their corporate business
model to maximize revenue. These eight suggestions
should help.
"A mediocre salesperson tells. A good
salesperson explains. A superior salesperson
demonstrates. A great salesperson inspires the buyers to
see the benefits as their own."
Anonymous
Rick Erling
President
The CxO Group
(972) 727-6880
www.thecxogroup.com
Let me know how I can
help!
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us on
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