Leading the Sales Team to Victory
by john chapin
While one could argue that there are many factors determining sales success or failure, I find that 99 % of the time, success or failure really comes down to one item. If you have this one item in place, success is virtually guaranteed. If you don’ t, failure is virtually guaranteed.
The Key Success Factor and How to Ensure it Exists and Thrives in Your Sales Plan
We all know you need the basics: product knowledge, the ability to get in the door of qualified prospects, get attention, solve problems, get agreement, answer objections, present, close, and follow through, among other things. We also know that your primary job is to produce … to sell. Other equally relevant truths that relate more closely to the key success factor are: o Sales is a numbers game; the more people you talk to the more business you’ ll do. o The harder you work, the luckier you get. o The more calls you make, the faster you figure it out. o And, production cures all that ails you, or, as my dad used to say,“ You could be in the middle of your worst sales slump ever … down, depressed, and hopeless and yet, if you simply found an order on the ground, one you had absolutely nothing to do with closing, but it was a good order that counted toward your quota, you’ d instantly be back on top of the world.”
All of that said, the one item that determines success or failure more than anything else is your activity level. Specifically, making the calls necessary to make the contacts, get the qualified prospects, and make sales necessary to exceed your quota.
Every time I’ ve seen someone fail in sales, it’ s because they didn’ t make enough calls to talk to enough qualified prospects. Every time. While I suppose there could be some other factor for failure, it would be the miniscule exception. 100 % of the time in my experience, I’ ve been able to tie failure back to a lack of activity. Here are some rules to follow to ensure you have the proper amount of activity in your sales day.
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26 KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER | November- December 2016 |