Measure Your Sales Productivity by Your Customer's Actions
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February 16, 2011 12:15 PM
Kevin Davis' new book, Slow Down, Sell Faster, thoughtfully explains how sales people can speed up business-to-business sales by slowing down to get into synch with each customer's buying process. The key to this, in Davis' view, is to match the focus + timing of sales efforts to each buyer's needs.
To any salesperson looking for inventive ways to do so, I highly recommend picking up a copy of the book. Davis' insights are too numerous to list here. Let me add these points to Christian Maurer's earlier summary of Davis' thought-shifting ideas:
KNOW IF YOU'RE CREATING VALUE: get in the habit of measuring the success of each sales interaction by what your customer does afterwards; you'll become more attuned to seeing the process through their eyes. In my view, you'll also discover the success with which your efforts provoke buyers to take action. The only sales efforts that count are ones that induce proof of continued buyer commitment to the process.
GAUGE BUYER MILESTONES: get more scheduled 1st sales appointments. Produce Memorandums of Understanding, summarizing buyer requirements + the buyer value of solutions which might address those requirements. Produce winning proposals and fear-conquering details buyers need with which to then negotiate terms + commit to buying. Then teach new customers how to achieve maximum value from the solution they've purchased. I'd add: look for proof of each milestone via buyer actions; know where you are with each buyer, by seeing which actions each buyer's taken.
In Davis' view, salespeople who slow down, and sell faster, get great satisfaction out of helping customers buy more effectively. They also differentiate themselves by HOW they sell, not just WHAT they sell. As one buyer once said to one Amacus user: "Dave, I knew it'd be you calling. You're always there for me when I need you." She bought the next day. In an era of frazzled buyers + hyper-busy sales people, this stuff works. Davis' book explains how you can make it work for you.
Originally posted on Innovative Information in B2B Sales Productivity
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