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Focus on the Sales Process to Reduce Your Sales Frustrations

Sales

Some people think selling is easy. If it were really so easy then everyone could do it. Selling is not easy. Your job is to reduce your sales frustrations and make your selling easier. That’s why you should focus on the sales process.

Accept that you can’t control what other people do

What makes selling so hard is that you can only accomplish your sales objectives through other people. You can’t buy. You have to get appointments with people who either can buy or lead to those people who can buy from you. You are not in control of those people.

All the great technology that exists today to help you sell more is also there to make it harder for you to reach prospects. Prospects are busy just like everyone else. Prospects don’t reply to emails. They screen their calls. They don’t return voicemails. You can’t make prospects do what they choose not to do.

Learn to control what you can control: the sales process

I still find some salespeople who let their frustrations overtake them as they sell. They focus on thinking, “I’m not making my sales.” Instead, they should focus on their sales process, not the results.

Here’s what I mean. If you keep focusing on selling $X you will be frustrated if you don’t make that number. $X is the result. Instead, why not set a goal of making X qualified prospecting calls each day? You can control that you set the time to make those calls. You can identify the ideal prospects who you are looking to sell. You can create an effective telephone introduction that gives a prospect a reason to listen. Making those calls is in your control. Selling $X is not.

Pay attention to what’s working and change what’s not

Notice what’s working as you focus on your sales process. How many appointments are you getting if you are making X prospecting calls each day? Your message needs improvement if you are not reaching the number you want. You can control the process improvement of crafting a more effective message. You can’t control whether the prospect is sitting at his desk to pick up the phone.

You have to pay attention to what’s working and what’s not working by thinking about process improvement. By focusing on improving a process, you put yourself in a different place that allows you to avoid beating yourself up if a prospect doesn’t respond the way you want him to.

You will reduce your sales frustrations when you work on sales process improvement. I’ll also predict that you’ll increase your sales.

Profile: Maura Schreier-Fleming

Maura Schreier-Fleming is president of Best@Selling, a sales training and sales consulting company. She works with business and sales professionals to increase sales and earn larger profits. She is the author of Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results and Monday Morning Sales Tips. Maura focuses on sales strategies and tactics that lead to better sales results. Maura is a sales expert for WomenSalesPros. She is part of their group of top sales experts who inspire, educate, and develop salespeople and sales teams.She speaks internationally on influence, selling skills, and strategic selling at trade association and sales meetings, demonstrating how her principles can be applied to get results. She successfully worked for over 20 years in the male-dominated oil industry with two major corporations, beginning at Mobil Oil and ending at Chevron Corp. She was Mobil Oil’s first female lubrication engineer in the U.S. and was one of Chevron’s top five salespeople in the U.S. having sold over $9 million annually. Maura writes several columns to share her sales philosophies. She's been quoted in the New York Times, Selling Power, and Entrepreneur.