Master The Basics.

Legend has it that every year, Green Bay Packer Head Coach Vince Lombardi would hold up a football, and then proudly and forcefully announce to his team: “This is a football.” What is the lesson in this? If you master the basics, success will much more easily follow. The same is true in sales, and we are all in sales. Mastering the basics will help us to project competency and increase success while experiencing greater satisfaction and rewards, both personally and professionally. Following are basics to be mastered; a process called the sales cycle:

1. Preparation There is no such thing as an overnight success. To be the best takes preparation. Often this preparation is seen only by the one doing the preparing. For every success you observe, an enormous amount of preparation paved the way. If you want to be a success, it is imperative that you determine your level of dedication. Set realistic, honest goals and develop and implement a plan to realize them. Use your time effectively and educate yourself about your profession. Learn your industry and know your competition. Improve your personality and character traits. Understand what you want to contribute to those around you and to society in general. Take care of yourself physically and mentally. Then continually practice all the above.

2. Prospecting Prospecting is nothing more than creating opportunities, either through cold calling (talking with those you don’t know) and/or networking (talking with those you know). Learn to be comfortable in new situations and have fun. Be consistent and have a brief, informative and memorable opening statement for every situation.

3. Qualifying Qualifying narrows your focus to the prospects that are truly potential clients, versus “suspects”, who are going to waste your most non-renewable resource – time. Learn not only how to ask questions in a very relaxed and conversational manner, but how to ask the same question several ways, ensuring you are thorough and will be understood by people of different backgrounds and perspectives. You are not an interrogator, but are developing a relationship that will flow into the next stage of the sales cycle and result in a sale for you as well as joy for your prospect, as they graduate to the title of customer. By building a long-lasting relationship, both of you will experience dividends for years.

4. Making Presentations A world-class sales presentation must be tailored for every situation. Be both memorable and professional. Let them discover the benefits of your product/service as you highlight them. While the obvious goal of your presentation is to position yourself to close the sale, another goal is to close the door to the competition.

5. Handling Objections You are going to experience objections because the prospect may simply want more information from which to acquire your product/service. Happily and professionally provide them with the information to close the sale. Identify potential objections, prepare for them, and have an effective response ready. Preparation will enable you to remain calm in the face of adversity, ensure patience, and stay focused to address any objection that the prospect may throw at you. Ensure you are hearing the objection by restating it to the prospect. Only after agreement that you understand the objection is obtained can you actually answer it.

6. Closing Great closers are great because they know why they are in sales: to close the sale. Anything less is, well, watching your competitor get the sale. Therefore, become knowledgeable of the many closing techniques by reading books, studying the many resources about closing, and learn from the best. The prospect wants and needs your product/service to fulfill their needs. You either make the sale or donot make the sale, there is no in-between. The sale is made when the paperwork is signed, payment is made, the customer accepts delivery ,and the rescission time allowed has passed. Just because the prospect said they would buy from you does not mean they will buy from you. Get the sale!!!

7. Follow-up Your job is not completed because you closed the sale. Evaluate your performance to be sure that you did your job to the best of your talent and ability. Make repeated performances on a consistent basis. Whenever you win a new customer, let them know you are looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship. Almost every product/service must be reacquired after a certain amount of time. When this “itch cycle” for your product/service starts again you want to be the one to satisfy the need. It may be one of your easiest sales. If they know, like and trust you the first time, why wouldn’t they buy from you again?

There is no such thing as perfection in sales. By mastering the basics of the sales cycle, understanding them, and making them habit to you, you will achieve many more victories and experience greater fulfillment.