If there’s one factor that sales organizations cry out to have—and that salespeople themselves crave—it is control. That is control over the deal. Control over the prospect. Most of all, control over bringing the deal to a close. What is real sales control?
First, let’s talk about what we mean when we say “control.” A salesperson or sales management should not feel that control is manipulative or a bad thing. Most buyers love, even desire, positive control. They all want to meet the expert of that product or service, then be positively guided to the right decision.
Control = Sales Process
Successful selling is never about “winging it” and hoping for the best. It’s about successfully presenting your product or service using a pre-determined sales process.
One of our major discoveries here at SELLability was that despite the claims of countless sales books, seminars, and “experts”, closing is never the problem. Failed closes come about from missed steps of the sales process. The sales process we have developed at SELLability is basic to any sales process for any product or service—so if you learn and drill ours, you can apply it to any business, service, or product.
The basic sales process consists of:
1. Prospecting
2. Research
3. Contact and Interview
4. Qualifying
5. Education
6. Agreement
7. Closing
The sales process provides a very necessary degree of control in bringing about the sale. If any of these steps are not fully done, you lose control of the sale. It’s as simple as that.
Positive Control
Many business owners, salespeople, and people, in general, have a distaste for the idea of control. This is usually due to bad control experiences in their lives. When we’re talking about control, we’re not talking about bad control or a bad experience. We don’t mean being rude or pushy or in any way offensive.
Note that it’s easier to guide someone through the sales process when you’re totally certain that your product or service is a fit for the prospect. So, guiding them through the process is guiding them to the point where they realize—and you as the salesperson realize—that your product or service is a perfect match for them. By both of you realizing that, we end up with the perfect definition for a sale, which is an exchange in which both parties win.
If you genuinely care about your prospect, you will follow each step of the sales process, guiding them to buy the product—which is why they came to see you or called you. Remember that unless the prospect was interested, they wouldn’t have reached out to you. Your key is to use positive control and guide them through the process, caring enough about them to get them through to a close.
