News FeedWinning More Business With Sales Methodology
By: Linda Richardson | July 1st, 2009
Do you have a sales methodology that your team follows? Let’s step back. What is a sales methodology? Sales best practices? A sales process? Documented steps/procedures in the sale? Sales skills? Tools? All of the above?
A sales methodology is the system a sales organization follows to win business. In one sense (not the best sense), every sales organization and/or salesperson has a sales methodology whether it is the remnants of one that had once been put in place, the norm people follow, or what a particular salesperson has figured out for him or herself.
An effective sales methodology is one that a sales organization has thought out clearly and provides it to its salesforce. The differences between a sales methodology that just exists because a company or most salespeople pretty much operate that way and a highly effective sales methodology boils down to six critical success factors.
Documentation: Map out clear steps as a guide for salespeople to follow/repeat.
Best Practices: Embed it with what your top performers consistently do.
Training: Prepare your salesforce to ensure they have the knowledge and skills needed to carry out the steps.
Tools: Give salespeople and sales managers tools, such as easy to use CRMs, planners, access to research … to make them more productive.
Execution: Follow it and coach to it.
Assessment: Ongoing feedback, tweaking and refinement.
The goal of having a sales methodology is to win more deals and to win them more quickly.
The initial question was do you have a sales methodology. The second question is if not should you have one?
Take the time to map out the steps it takes to identify and convert a lead into a customer. Make it a collaborative process with marketing team and your top performers. It is more than worth the effort. 10% of your reps will do fine without a clear sales methodology. But 80% will do better with one.
About the Author: Linda Richardson: President and CEO of Richardson, training consultants to corporations, banks, and investment banks globally. Richardson has 110 professionals, 15 regional offices in the United States, and presence in London, Australia, Singapore, Latin America, and Asia. Clients of Richardson include KPMG, Federal Express, General Mills, Tiffany & Co., Dell Computer, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Citibank, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, and Kinko’s. Visit http://www.Richardson.com.
