You're Not Underpaid...You're UnderSkilled THH #002
Jul 21, 2023
If you're not getting the sales results you want, its time to look in the mirror.
If you're a founder or business owner e.g. consultancy or real estate, then have you a clear sales process?
Have you built standard operating procedures that your sales team follow?
Do you update your sales process on a quarterly basis? e.g. maintain a master list of objections thats kept updated.
The world we are selling in today is dramatically different to 12 months ago...
Does lead generation keep up with the latest trends? e.g. does your team now use ChatGPT as part of their process in a structured manner?
If you're an Account Executive or Sales Development Rep, do you have a clear sales process?
Its easy to just work every lead and let the prospect lead the sales cycle, looking busy at the start of the quarter won't mask poor sales results at the end of the quarter.
The not so obvious clues...
What do you know to be true for the deals you win?
What's your specific criteria for qualification?
Do you sometimes overlook them as your hungry to work an opportunity?
Do opportunities need deep discovery?
Do you accept vague answers as you want to get the prospect to the next step in the sales process?
Is the close rate higher with multiple stakeholders vs just champions...Does a lack of multithreading deals cost you?
More Proof Needed...
Companies I consult with and AEs I coach 1:1 tend to come to the same realisations.
- They are not doing enough outbound activities.
- They are not executing sales to high standards.
This does not mean they are not busy, this causes the opposite problem!
Working Harder Than Ever...
Most salespeople are putting in 50-60 hours!
They are behind their number and working everything in a bid to get back on track.
Prospecting lacks consistency, quality outreach and structured multi touch follow up.
Salespeople are working deals where prospects are not qualified.
They follow the sales process of prospects as oppose to their own sales process.
Context Switching...
They are switching from email, slack, calls and creating presentations. Losing most of their time to context switching.
They don't have time to prepare for their best opportunities.
They don't have time for strategic prospecting, if any at all.
They lack skills at certain parts of the sales process.
They lack the skill of preparation to perform at the highest level.
e.g. if a prospect refuses to include others in the sales process they accept that.
As oppose to pushing back...
Take Back Control
Try this instead:
"From my experience in these projects, we are about to put in 2-3 months of work together and if X isn't involved...well the projects tend to stall or don't happen"
"I'm guessing your not confident in my ability to deliver or you need more reassurance that the solution will deliver for you"
"So how about this, il do the next session with you and if you're impressed, you introduce me to... "
They lower their standards for prospects in their sales process.
Salespeople are lacking key skills to prospect and close deals. They don't know how to prepare for these key activities and they run out of time to do important work that isn't urgent today.
e.g. if you don't prospect today you its not a problem today, its a problem in 90 days when you're out of pipeline.
Most are lacking skills to prospect, but the good news you can improve over a short period of time.
What Can I Do?
Before every prospecting or sales call ask yourself:
- Whats the best possible outcome?
- How would I achieve that?
Then, try use it e.g. a sales call that requires your champion to commit getting others on the next call
Plan to ask the question.
Plan for "No".
Plan to try turn the "No" into a "YES!".
Make a List of Skills to Improve
Every-time you do this, if you're not successful capture it on a skills to improve list.
At the end of the week or month, review the list and set time aside to improve the area of most weakness.
The improvement can be speaking with peers, podcasts, a book or even the university of YouTube.
The next time you're faced with the same challenge, try the new approach. If it works, great, if not it goes back on the list.
"If you can get 1% better each day for one year, you'll end up 37 times better by the time you're done."
James Clear, Author of Atomic Habits
If you're leading a team in a consultancy business, real estate or B2B Saas, this still works.
Your constant improvement will build your skills, your improved skills will pay off.
Thats it for today.
I'm looking forward to helping you prospect better, sell more and get promoted faster in future newsletters.
Have a great weekend
- Paul M. Caffrey
Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:
- I expand on prospecting in greater depth in my book: The Work Before the Work: The Hidden Habits Elite Sales Professionals Use to Outperform the Competition GET MY BOOK HERE.
- Sell more & get promoted faster with 1:1 Coaching here.
- Lead a sales team or org? Let's explore me training your team. Book a call here
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