43. What percent of sales people fail due to lack of planning?
Seventy-eight percent of all sales people fail because they lack what skill? When asking that question to a group of sales people the answers are all over the board. Closing usually comes out as number one, objections are number two, after that it's a toss up between making presentations, getting people's attention, follow up and asking questions. The reason 78% of all sales people fail, or fail to reach their sales objective is due to a lack of planning. At first this may seem a little off balance, however when we take a look at what planning really is, it takes on a new meaning.
For example, let's take a look at closing. The best time to think about your close is when you are planning the call. Instead of taking in one product to show your customer, take in three different quality levels. Instead of asking if they want to buy your product or not, you can now ask them which product would best fit their needs. That is the choice close at its best.
Objections are another example. If we wait until we are in the buyer's office and he or she says "your price is out of line" it's a little late to start figuring out what to say. We all know the objections we run into, and again, the best time to overcome them is when we are planning the call.
Let's take a look at making the presentation. There are very few products on the market today that cannot be duplicated, turning them into a commodity. Why should a buyer switch to your product when the features and benefits are the same? Once again the time to find the "points of difference" that will make a professional presentation is during your planning stages.
How about getting the buyer's attention? The average buyer is interrupted every eight minutes. If they have been buying for any length of time they have "heard it all." What are you going to do or say during the first 60 seconds that will make the buyer lean forward and say "tell me more." If you are trying to think of something while waiting your turn to see the buyer, well, you get the point.
The old days of "hitting the street and making some calls" are pretty much in the past. Twenty years ago there was believed to be such a thing as a "Born Sales Person". Today we have to sell with "Surgical precision."
I am sure you would not like to have open heart surgery by a "born doctor" who understands the concept of open heart surgery but does not take the time to plan every detail of the procedure?
How would you feel about getting on an airline flight with a "born pilot" who understood the theory of flight but never took the time to file a flight plan.
How would you feel about eating in a restaurant run by a "born cook" who never had any training in food safety and never took the time to follow up on the cleaning details.
What about investing with a broker who "had a feeling" for the market and bought and sold without a detailed plan.
Most importantly, when you are buying something, how do you feel about buying from sales people who take up an hour of your time without having a well-prepared plan and presentation for the appointment. These unprepared appointments are usually justified as having "advertising value," or building a "relationship." However, today's profit and loss statements are viewed from the "Bottom line up." The bottom line of selling is to measure your call results with your call expectations. And call expectations are "planned" in advance.
The difference between an average sales person and a "Cutting-edge" sales professional is many times only a small difference. If a certain sales person is selling twice as much as another sales person, it does not mean the one producing more results is twice as good as the other. The difference may be only a few minor things that may even seem insignificant.
To keep your selling skills on "the cutting-edge" take the advice of a master salesperson, Abraham Lincoln. He once said "If I had six hours to cut down a tree, I would spend four hours sharpening my ax."
The bottom line of planning; spend at least four hours on a Friday Afternoon or Saturday morning going through each call you are going to make next week.
Comments:
Schedule planning time for your next week at the end of the current one; allowing nothing but dire emergencies to get in the way. You must make sure phone and email messages reflect the certainty of you unavailability. Once customers recognize that you are consistently engaged at that time, they will learn to make known their “emergencies” earlier in the day.
Jim Roth
“Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning”
Winston Churchill
"A good plan executed today is better than a perfect plan executed at some indefinite point in the future."
General George Patton Jr
"In war nothing is achieved except by calculation. Everything that is not soundly planned in its details yields no result."
Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor
Planning your day also makes you feel better at the end of the day, keeps your stress level down and keeps your attitude and focus at a higher level. In short, it makes you more efficient at your job.
Crocker Smith
I have definitely learned that planning my day and week makes me more productive. If I don’t have a plan the “daily crisis’” suck me in and I never get a chance to leave the office. Planning helps me to stay on track with follow-ups. For me it easy to forget to check on clients or prospects if I don’t have a visual reminder. I have a hundred things going in my head all day, planning keeps me productive and focused.
Brooke Knight
As I read this lesson, I thought of our sales-person, Heidi. Every day when she comes in to work, she spends the morning planning, then goes out in the afternoon. She plans out where she is going, the clients she will see, the supplies she needs to bring, and she also researches the companies. Now, if Heidi went directly out into the field without doing that, she could spend 5 or 6 hours driving around aimlessly, and stopping all over creation. The few hours spent planning, then executing it in the afternoon makes for a much more productive day, in less time!
Laura J. Czajka
"The bottom line of planning; spend at least four hours on a Friday afternoon or Saturday morning going through each call you are going to make next week."