When you’re running a business, facing new issues every day, it’s not realistic to think that you can come up with all of the answers on your own. Luckily, you’re not alone — you have a virtual think tank. In this team blog Inner Circle facilitators share practical wisdom about growing your business without losing your sanity. And seasoned entrepreneurs chime in with new perspectives, personal stories and provocative questions when you post your business challenges here.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007Open Question: Sale Process Discoveries"What has been your biggest surprise discovery about the sales process in your firm?" Posted by Inner Circle at 8:41 AM
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In service businesses, most sales processes fail in the prospecting component, mostly because prospects are not properly qualified prior to contacting them. We want to tell our story to anyone who will listen, whether they are qualified to be a client or not.
Addressing poor sales results is especially tough when you’re a soloist! Here’s the advice (and touch of much needed humor) a treasured colleague offered another soloist who, on the heels of some grueling months of poor sales, confessed, “If I worked for me, I’d fire me.”
The advice: “Concerning firing yourself, my suggestion based on similar experience, is to fire yourself in August and December. The rest of the time you need a warm body out there talking with people, and you can't afford to hire anyone better at it than you. Timely firing of yourself each year can give you an illusory sense of power and control, and won't leave you short handed during the peak times. I've fired myself so many times that I can't get me to work for me anymore. It's probably your Sales Manager's fault anyway, fire him.”
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