Often when we’re talking about about sales, we seem to be saying the salesperson is in charge of when deals move forward and ultimately when they close. But that is not reality.
When you’re selling you are a steward of a buying process. You can influence when a sale happens, but you cannot overcome the inherent dynamics of how that customer wants to buy.
Don’t slow it down
You can slow deals down. Buyers need reminders of things they should do. Follow up is a critical part of selling. It’s way too easy to miss the follow up you need to do to generate pipeline and progress opportunities. Tools are getting better at reminding salespeople what they need to do, and when they need to do it, but it’s still up to us to act. It can seem like completing an activity such as prospecting is not critical in the frenzy of our busy day, but each action skipped at this stage can mean a reduction in closed deals in the months to come.
Don’t gamble
Over the years, I have seen many salespeople taking big risks with important deals by talking to only one person in the company they are selling to. A common outcome of this kind of “single threading” is “radio silence”—no returned calls or emails, and ultimately no deal.
It does not have to be this way. Once we realize that all sizable deals have multiple people involved in the buying process (research from companies like Gartner put the average number of people in a complex purchase at 6.8), we can change our sales approach to one that maximizes our chances of winning.
One framework for progressing sales opportunities that I have had a lot of success with is described in Robert Miller and Stephen Heiman’s book “Strategic Selling” (now called New Strategic Selling.) In this framework there are three types of people always present in a larger sale.
- The economic buyer
- The users
- The gatekeepers
If you don’t know the people that play the roles above, you are taking a risk with your sale. The first step to increase your chances of winning is to identify the people involved in buying.
Take the win
Take the win. Sales is a tough gig and it’s not getting any easier. We put hours and hours of work into generating opportunities and then turning these into closed deals. When deals do finally close, celebrate! Don’t instantly make your goals bigger. There are so many lean times in selling that it’s well worth giving yourself a pat on the back when good things happen. Do something nice for yourself when you have success. It does not have to be big—buying a Starbucks with extra whipped cream might work. But do something to tell your brain “Hey! This closing stuff is fun!”. It will help you during those tough times when you are trying to put off making one more prospecting call because you’ve already had seven “nos”.
Summary
- You can trace closed deals back to sustained business development work done months earlier.
- Follow up is essential to maintaining a healthy sales pipeline.
- Relying on a single contact in an account risks deals falling through. Identifying the key players increases the chances of closing large sales.
- Celebrate closed deals. Recognizing success will help maintain your motivation during challenging times.