I had the opportunity to visit an automotive group that we are training with this week and as I was sitting in on one of the dealership’s sales meetings, the discussion went to how they would finish the month with the unit count. Someone said that we should be able to get there because “Selling is not Rocket Science”.
For decades we all have been hearing the phrase “Sales is not Rocket Science, its easy”
The people who told you this have been telling you a tall story and that’s ok because everyone likes a good story. However, the truth is that sales is actually harder than rocket science and this is why: Rocket Science is defined as Rocketry – An endeavor requiring great intelligence or technical ability. In other words you are required to gain knowledge beyond high school to understand the mathematics of efficient rocket mastery. Not a bad career in a structured predictable mathematical environment.
Sales or Salesmanship - is defined as the practice of investigating and satisfying customer needs through a process that is efficient, fair, sincere, mutually beneficial, and aimed at long-term productive relationships. So your level of education is not important to be successful in sales you need to have the right attitude to master a process. In short, since sales consultants are dealing with emotions, attitudes, beliefs, miss-information, and self esteem issues from customers each and every day, the question is how do you consistently have mutually beneficial long term relationships?
Sales is a predictable science
Success in sales is not dependent upon personality, or good looks. Those can be factored into the equation, but I have met people with wonderful pleasant personalities, who could not sell or close a door. I have also met some very ugly souls, who could sell anything to anyone by mastering the basics and following the sales process to get the guest to see and understand the value in accepting the offer for their product selection NOW!
It means that YOU can determine and predict your results. The point of this newsletter is that you need to track your statistics. If you are not keeping track of your numbers, then you are losing money and ultimately costing yourself deals. How often do you use your CRM tool, spreadsheet, index cards or any means for tracking numbers?
If you are already keeping track of your numbers, congratulations! Take it a step further and see where you may be able to incorporate another statistic. Become a student of your game and by all means, be ridiculous; be a stat’s freak. I promise that the sales consultant leaders in your dealership, auto group and industry are keeping score everyday.
1. Determine where each prospect starts in your sales process
2. Look at each level of the relationship from start to finish or when the sale is made
3. Define each level and start keeping track
For example, let us say your sales process starts with a phone call. So count how many phone calls you make each day. Next, track how many of those phone calls resulted in you getting a hold of the person you wanted to reach. Then track how many of those contacts went to the next level of your sales process and so on until you get to the sale. Even after the sale, you could keep track of how many referrals are generated.
Then track how many of your referrals turn into to sales
Another example – if you are in to prospecting, how many "lunch and learns"do you hold out in your community? How many people attend each of them? How many of those people do you talk to again?
One of my favorite sales consultants is with a group in Clear Lake, Texas. She invited me into her office and showed me her statistics. She could look back and see that 75% of her clients originated from attending a community event or were referred by someone who has been to one of these community events. This is a professional who has an extremely successful online business and is tracking more than $400,000 in annual sales this year. I have no doubt that her level of accuracy and diligence in keeping track of her numbers in conjunction with prospecting has led to her success.
Investing the time in your statistics is one of the greatest investments you will ever make. You will be able to see where your numbers need to be improved, and if you focus on that area, your sales will automatically go up. You turn into your own coach and business analyst and reap all of the rewards!
So the next time that you hear that Sales is not Rocket Science – just smile and keep moving forward!
Dave
www.worldwidesalestraining.com
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