Premise - Having quality sales conversations through the buying/selling process to close a sales opportunity is the same as the execution of each football play on a critical 4th quarter drive to take the lead.
Just like a great Football Coach has their players prepared to run every play, an effective Sales Coach ensures their sales team members are prepared to have a quality conversation on each sales call.
Before an upcoming football game, the team spends the week practicing the plays they will run in certain situations to include a late 4th quarter drive when trailing the other team. Coaches provide feedback to the players’ practice performance to increase the likelihood of effective execution during the game.
Effective Sales Coaches do the same as great football coaches. They prepare their sellers before critical sales calls to increase the likelihood of advancing or closing the sales opportunity. While sales call preparation is always important it takes on a different degree of importance in the final quarter of your company’s year.
In his article ‘’The Lost Art of Call Planning” John Hoskins, Founder of Level Five Selling, provides relevant insight on an ingredient that is often missing in sales call preparation even when pre-call planning does happen.
“Salespeople usually identify what they want to say and what questions they want to ask, but they stop there. They omit considering what to propose as the next step to move the sales cycle forward. As many sales managers have told us, every salesperson should close for a commitment that moves the sales cycle forward on every call.”*
We all have experienced the changing dynamics of a sales conversation and the need to adjust your pre-call plan. A well-prepared seller can adapt during the sales call and pivot to the appropriate commitment to move the sale forward.
“If the call doesn’t go as well as planned, they can close the call with something less aggressive that moves the sale along. On the other end of the spectrum, what if the call goes better than anticipated? If they haven’t thought about a more aggressive advance, how will they close the call? Too often the result is a missed opportunity. Even the best planned and executed sales call that doesn’t end with moving the sales cycle forward doesn’t lead to generating revenue!”*
If your company needs help with your annual sales meeting and/or help with coaching your front-line sales managers, contact us for a complimentary consult.
*©2018 Level Five Selling, LLC
Comments