Sales Process is one of the most debated concepts in sales. Say the word sales process to sales people and watch their face contort into the most interesting abstract art. Sales processess have been the demise of great sales empires. They have divided sales kingdoms. Sales processess can be found at the heart of some of the best sales teams in the world. Hate em or love em sales processess are a part of sales.
I have my thoughts on sales processes but I’m not going to into them specifically. What I do want to talk about is why they matter.
Fighting sales processes is a losing proposition. They exist, whether you chose to accept it or not. The question is NEVER, do we have a sales process, or don’t we but rather does our process work for us and do we like it? If you insist on asking if you have a process, let me help you out. The answer is YES! Processes are omnipresent. If you do a job with expected outcomes, processes exists. The real question is; is it a good process and does it IMPROVE your ability to reach your goals.
Eli Whitney and Henry Ford figured this out. There had always been a process for manufacturing, it just wasn’t a good one. They realized by tweaking existing processes in a way that was more predictable and consistent, they could get more done; faster, better cheaper. Sales processes are no different. Sales processess matter because they force you to look at what you’re already doing. They force you to assess the actions that are affecting your desired outcome. Sales processess require situational and contextual expertise. You have to know a lot about everything you do to build an effecitve process.
My Dad used to ask me all the time; “Do you know what your doing?” Usually, I didn’t. I had hunches, ideas, and was aggressively trying to make things work. I was using brute force, perseverance and determination to get things done. It worked a lot. I got things done, most of the time. But, it was taxing. It wasn’t until I started accepting the idea of process that I actually began to “know” what I was doing. When that happened, I still got things done, but they became easier. It wasn’t as tiring. Brute force was no longer required and perseverance paid off in exceeding the goals, not just meeting them.
We hate process because we don’t know what we are doing OR because it’s a shitty process. To fix; figure out what your doing OR create a process that works or BOTH. Sales processes work. You can’t be as effective or as successful without a good one. Remember, you have one, whether or not you want to admit it. Stop fighting it, create a good one and enjoy the benefits.
Related articles
- The Lie of a “Better” Sales Process. (customerthink.com)
- The Sales Process: Assignments (mrhessemarketing.wordpress.com)
