Why it is time to stop selling
There is no money in sales.
No, really.
Think about it: you can sell, and sell, and sell. But at what point do you actually make money? When somebody else buys.
The money is in the action of buying, not the action of selling.
Before you build a sales plan, understand how your clients buy.
Flip it
Start with what you know: your current sales process.
List all the things that have to happen from when you start talking to a prospect to when you close a sale – and indeed start working together.
Now take that list, and add everything that the customer must do:
- When do they have to attend a meeting
- What information do they have to share
- What decisions will they be making, and what do they need to make the decision
- What happens that they can not see, but is important to them?
From selling to buying
Now add all the parts that you don’t see.
- What conversations are they having in between meetings with you?
- How are they factoring your service into their budget?
- What about their timing and other projects?
- How are they collecting information to make a decision?
- Who else will they need to involve?
Add all these steps to your list, in the correct order.
Write the buyer journey
What is the journey your clients go on to buy from you?
Who is involved, what are the milestones, and what are the tools they require?
Build your selling process to match the buyer journey, because the only money is in buying.