5 Steps to Take Control of Your Sales Process

You have a hot sales prospect and you spend a lot of time working on a sales proposal. You finally submit it, and you get an email back thanking you, and a message that your prospect will let you know if he has any questions.

You’ve just lost control of your sales process. Here’s what you can do to prevent it from happening again.

1. Never agree to email a proposal.

You lose too much control if you simply email your proposal. How can you ‘‘read’’ the room of listeners and gauge interest if you’ve sent your proposal via email? You can’t. If you can’t travel to the prospect, there is abundant technology that you can use to present your proposal. You must be able to see your prospects’ interest during the presentation so you can adapt if needed.

2. Have a reason to submit your proposal.

You are going to start your presentation with a summary of the reasons why your prospect needs your products or services. These are the pain points. You have identified them, right? Why would you submit a generic proposal and expect to be the preferred provider if you haven’t identified your prospect’s key concerns for him? And during the presentation you are going to verify that your prospect agrees that these are his key concerns. That’s why you don’t simply email your presentation.

3. Be sure the decision makers are in the room.

How do you know that the key decision makers are in the room? During your sales process you asked the right questions to learn who they were. (Key question: “Who along with you makes the decision to buy?") It’s too easy for a prospect (especially male) to say, “I’m the decision maker,” only to learn later that there are others involved in the process.

If someone tells you they make the decisions, then follow with, “Tell me about your decision-making process.” You will quickly learn if they have identified buying criteria---or not—and then you can help your prospect shape his decision-making process.

4. Don’t present a proposal unless your prospect is serious.

Too many salespeople are thrilled to be asked to submit a proposal. They think they are really being considered by their prospects. They’re not. Some prospects simply need three bids and want to fill slots with proposals. Other prospects aren’t even ready to buy and simply want to learn what’s out in the marketplace.

5. Present at the right time.

You had better ask the question, “Is there a budget for this project/program?” before you submit a proposal. That’s how you learn if your prospect isn’t simply shopping with no intention of buying now. Present shoppers with the information they need, but not a formal proposal. Save your time for when your prospect is ready to buy. Also realize that shoppers are not likely to become customers soon unless there’s a budget.

Losing control of your sales process is what happens when you forget to do the sales process work before you submit a proposal. When you lose control of your sales process, you’re also likely to lose the sale.