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If You Are Being Out-Hustled
If there is one thing that is 100 percent within your control, it is your effort. You control how hard you work. Not your manager. Not your leader. Not anyone else. No one can or will stop you from working hard. The effort you make here is yours alone. If it isn’t enough, it’s all you. You control how many hours you work, too. The time you invest in work each day has nothing to do with your scheduled hours. It has nothing to do with whether you are paid hourly, salary, or straight commission. You can work as much as you want—or as little. The work that you decide to do is all up to you. This is true even if you have a day job. You can do your life’s work at 5:00 AM in the morning, when there is no one on earth who wants your time. You can work at 10:00 PM when other people are going to sleep. Like effort and time, the work you do is all you. If you are being out-hustled, it’s because you are allowing it. If someone is working harder than you are, they’re likely to produce more and better results. Even if they aren’t as smart, talented, educated, or well-connected as you. That someone who is working more hours doesn’t have one single hour more than you do each day. It’s just that they are investing their hours differently. Everyone has things that they have to do. And they always find time for the things they believe are most important. Right now, how you are spending your time is an indication of what is most important. There are very few things in life that are 100 percent within your control. Your belief system is one of them. Your attitude is another. What kind of effort you make is also one of the few things you can control. Source: https://thesalesblog.com/2016/10/04/if-you-are-being-out-hustled/
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How to Massively Improve Your Ability to Close
Closing business is relatively easy and straightforward. You simply say something like, “I believe that we’ve done enough together to move forward. Can we get started or is there something else you need from me first?” Nothing to it. As long as you’ve done a lot of things right before you ask for the business.
Here’s the root cause of closing problems:
Unqualified
You can’t–and shouldn’t try to–close unqualified prospects. But pipelines are full of unqualified opportunities.
Mercilessly disqualify. You don’t have time to spend with prospects who can’t buy, won’t buy, or don’t perceive massive value in what you do. Look at your pipeline now. Delete what isn’t a qualified opportunity.
Poor Process
Much of the reason salespeople struggle to close opportunities is that they don’t follow their sales process.
Follow your process. Ensure that you create value for your prospective client at every interaction, and especially focus on where they are in their buying journey. Don’t skip steps or stages, and instead ensure you achieve all of the necessary outcomes at each stage of your process.
Build a compelling case for change. Help your client build the case for change and help them build consensus. Spend more time in the process and more time meeting the stakeholders and decision-makers.
If you are simply responding to RFPs, you shouldn’t expect a very high close rate. That process doesn’t allow you to create value. That’s why it isn’t your process.
Failure to Gain Commitments
There is a delicate dance we engage in with our clients. We follow their process, or we sell them on following ours. Your process is a better process, and it helps your client make a better buying decision.
To ensure you follow your process, you have to ask for and obtain a series of commitments from your prospective client. These seemingly smaller “asks” are more important than the final “ask,” the close. Without gaining these commitments, you can’t get to the final close.
Ask for the information you need. Ask to meet with the people you need to meet with. Here is a list of all of the commitments you need.
Dealing with Obstacles
There are almost always obstacles that must be overcome on the way to a deal. If you can’t overcome these obstacles, you can’t get to a close.
Deal with the human obstacles. If someone opposes your solution, go find out why. Ask for help understanding what they might need to support you. Get help from the people who support your efforts. Whatever you have to do, get help resolving their concerns.
Deal with the solution obstacles. If you need to make changes to what you do or how you do it, figure out how to make those changes.
If you want to massively improve your ability to close, you have to massively improve everything you do on the way to that final ask.
Source: https://thesalesblog.com/2014/05/14/how-to-massively-improve-your-ability-to-close/
I don’t know many sales people that enjoy making prospecting calls. It’s definitely one of the most difficult parts of the job. There are so many things to consider. How quickly are you responding to your leads? What time and Day are you responding? How long are your average calls?
