I believe the selling season lasts year round. Thousands of companies need help and will buy your products regardless of the time of year. That said, your industry most likely has an exceptionally busy month or quarter when many new clients buy your services. In effect, you are always working for three time frames… the present month, the quarter, and the “busy season.” It is during these periods when the strength of your pipeline is revealed!
Have you ever been around a superstar who has deals poppin’ one right after the other… POP… pop… POP… Pop… pop! Everybody looks on, in awe, and wonders, “How the in the world does (s)he do it?”
The answer is in the pipeline!
It begins with being a great listener. You have to develop your instinct for understanding when a prospect is willing to buy now… or if they are stalling for legitimate reasons… or if they are really not interested at all. Your follow-up schedule must match the reality of the situation.
I live and die by my CRM. It is unbelievable to me that so many sales people prefer not to use one! I know… I know… “it doesn’t work right,” “it’s too slow,” “I’m selling and don’t have time for admin work,” “I’ll do it later…” I get all that. I live it daily, just like you. BUT, I’m here to tell you that if you don’t commit to your CRM, you’ll be selling like a rookie for your entire career. Rookies are…
Selling to Prove Themselves – Rookies are rookies. They are new and have to prove that they belong. Everyone is watching. Management is praying they made a good hire. Teammates wonder whether there is a new competitor to challenge for top dog.
Selling for an Identity – Rookies often get a few deals early in the process and begin to wonder, “Is this the type of deal that will produce the greatest results?” “Will accounts like this get me to my quota and earn me the income level I need to achieve?”
Selling for Today – Rookies are prospecting, all of the time, until they uncover a new prospect, they are hammering their lead base just to find an appointment. They would love nothing more than to open their database and find a prospect record with notes that say something like, “prospect is interested, frustrated with current provider due to X, Y, and Z issues… too busy closing out quarter end… wants me to call back in 2 weeks to schedule an appointment.”
A veteran superstar has a database filled with leads and notes like these. If you want to stop selling like a rookie, you have to build your pipeline!
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