What's your System?

from Jill Konrath's email:

Today's article is written by Dave Kahle, author of How to Sell Anything to Anyone Anytime . It's a good starting point for someone who's new to sales and needs to figure out how to get up to speed quickly. And, as you'll see below, he has a pretty cool book launch promotion going on right now.


Do You Have a Selling System?
By Dave Kahle

"I have my own style of selling." I've heard this countless times from salespeople. What they really mean is, "I don't have any real system to what I do, I don't want any scrutiny, and I probably am not going to learn anything from you."

Does every salesperson have a unique style of selling? More importantly, should everyone have their own style, or should you have system for selling to which everyone adheres?

"Systems" are how good work gets done. McDonald's didn't grow its business by hiring people and letting them figure out how to best greet a customer, take an order and assemble a cheeseburger. Pilots don't have their own way of flying a plane.

This truth-that good systems make people effective-operates in every area of work including sales. In fact, the more important and complex the task, the more likely that the principles and processes have been defined and codified. A person's individual differences are more embellishments than structure-like the icing on a cake.

A selling system addresses the interaction between the salesperson and the customer, providing a "game plan" for success. To be effective in your sales efforts, you need to codify the process, the tools and the tactics that are more effective than others. And, you'll need variations for each major market segment because they make decisions differently.

For example, at a software firm the most effective process may be to set up a meeting with the key decision maker, to collect information at the first meeting, to prepare a written proposal, to personally deliver that proposal, and then to make a follow up call.

The tools might consist of a script for making the appointment, a profile form to collect the information, a capability brochure to use to describe and introduce the company, a standard "proposal" form, and a set of carefully crafted questions to use throughout the process. The tactics may be a series of techniques to facilitate each step of the process.

When all those pieces are put in place - the appropriate processes, tools and tactics - you would have a selling system. And when you have a selling system, and when you have trained all your salespeople in that system, you will have taken a major step forward!

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Dave Kahle has trained tens of thousands of B2B salespeople, sales managers and business owners to be more effective in the 21st Century economy. He's authored eight books, and presented in 47 states and seven countries.

You will receive over $500 in bonus gifts from business growth leaders when you buy Dave's new book, How to Sell Anything to Anyone Anytime. To access Dave's training, insights and tools online, visit The Sales Resource Center.

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