Wouldn`t you love some more action?

Wouldn’t we all love a bit more action! If you are working in sales, sales requires movement, sales requires action. You need to get commitment and get action from your prospective clients and act yourself too. You need to do this in a planned time frame. Recently on a sales training course I asked the participants whether they had anything in common with Barrack Obama or Bill Gates. They all replied with a no. The truth is that they do and so do you and I. We all have the same 24 hours in a day but it is what you choose to do with that time that counts.

In sales training we pinpoint that you need to spend the quality time with those that actually can and will be interested and not on those that can not and will not be interested. Whilst talking wit your potential prospect you need to think big. Set your asking as high as possible.

By thinking big we are automatically getting further than we would be if we are thinking small. By suggesting that we think big on sales calls we can then bring the person down as little as possible so that it will appear more reasonable. A common trait that I have seen on sales training courses is that the person that is successful is the person who is constantly thinking bigger and asking questions such as; “well why shouldn’t we…” or “why couldn’t we…” these professionals realise that they are trying to help their prospective clients and want to help them.

The acronym that I use to remember to follow on every call is A.C.T.I.O.N

• Authority. Have you ever phoned a company and they seemed generally interested? Your excited about making the follow up call to set things in order and all of a sudden they say “no, sorry, Jack did not like it” so your there thinking who in the world is Jack and why did I not know there was a Jack? Basically the problem is that you did not ask what channels it has to go through before making a decision or you did not ask is there anyone that they feel may oppose your proposal. You need to get an understanding on the decision making hierarchy.
• Commitment. When you get a prospects commitment whether it’s that they will go before their committee with your proposal or that they will agree to follow up. You need to commit to a day and time to call back when they will have their side of the agreement complete. Without this commitment you are only hoping that it will follow through.
• Time Frame. Where there is a commitment there should be a time frame set to seal the next process. On a recent sales training course I heard an example of this, you are in the local shop and you meet an old acquaintance, you say to each other that you must meet up. Yet you never do. This is because you did not agree to a time or place.
• Interest in Needs. Ask yourself why you are talking to them and what they are specifically interested in and why. Lack of information regarding their needs and interest can lead to them not committing.
• Overview. This is a tactic. Basically summarise your conversation. What action you and they are going to take, what you have discussed and what needs to be done to help achieve their needs. This will also ensure an easier follow up call.
• Next Action. What did you get them to agree to? And follow it up.

In sales training courses we stress the importance of taking action, the more movement the more sales.