Why Is Maintaining a Business So Difficult?
Why do some small businesses struggle for every victory while others consistently and almost effortlessly uncover new opportunities, quickly develop them, and close the business? Do they get lucky and find themselves in the right place at the right time? No, they know they are in the right place and they plan their activities to be there at the right time. Their actions are guided by proven principles that allow them to recognize real opportunities and take the right actions at the appropriate time.
What are these principles? Here are four I believe will help you "be in the right place at the right time."
1. Be Guided by the Truth
All selling opportunities are defined by specific criteria-the prospect's and yours. Prospects invest in your product or service because they are unhappy with something they are currently doing. They generally have an idea of how much money they are willing to spend on a product or service, and, they sometimes even know how much time they are willing to invest to adopt or use it.
"Does the prospect meet my criteria?" and "Does your product or service meet the prospect's criteria?" If the answers are not "yes," or can't be changed to "yes" with some mutually agreed upon adjustment, then its time for you to "close the file" and move on to more viable opportunities.
Regardless of how good an "opportunity" looks when you start a sale, the truth is that an "opportunity" is not a real prospect if your product or service doesn't meet their requirements and vice versa. Accept this truth.
2. It's What You Have Today That Really Matters
Your success is determined by the opportunities you have today, not the ones you had last month or last year. The marketplace is ever changing. Prospective companies come and go. Needs--real and perceived--change. The economy grows and shrinks. Trends, fads, politics, and the world situation all have an impact on the marketplace...and how that marketplace responds to what you have to offer.
Today's successes are determined by today's environment...not yesterday's. Good prospects-a particular group of people, industries, professions, etc.-are only good prospects as long as they are representative of the group of people who are currently buying your product or service. You are on the road to disaster if you continue to focus on a market segment that is buying less and less your product or service, just because that segment was once a good target market.
Itís important to periodically take a step back, take the blinders off, and try to look at your situation from a third-party perspective Is it getting harder to get appointments with people who, not too long ago, were eager to see you? If this is true then focus your efforts on a different market segment, change the approach you use to get prospects and maybe change the criteria you use to judge an opportunity.
3. Do What's Right For You
The saying, "The customer is always right." has some truth in it, but we need to make a distinction between customers and prospects. Prospects do what they feel is right for them...and that's not always what's best for you. Prospects ask you for proposals, references, and an opportunity to preview your product or service...ostensibly to help them with their buying decision. Eager to win the business, you are willing to invest your time and energy to supply the information even though you have no commitment from the prospect about what will happen if you do.
Its important to get agreement with the prospect about what will happen next if you perform a needs analysis or make a proposal. And if their projected outcomes are fuzzy, or you suspect they are just shopping you, you need to have the nerve to politely terminate the process.
4. Invest Your Effort In The "Known" Before The "Unknown"
I t's not unusual for sales people to reach a level of success by using a certain set of activities that have proven to build their business, and then abandon them. They get bored ìdancing with the one what brung ëemî and invest their energies in less difficult or exciting new schemes to uncover and develop business.
Many salespeople happily give up the proactive prospecting activities such as making cold calls and generating and following up with referrals and turn to "marketing" or other passive tactics like direct-mail or advertising. They give up control of their ìpipelineî and turn it over to something or someone else. They sit at their desks and wait for the phones to ring, and stop doing the activities that got them where they are. Testing new ways to develop business is not bad, but don't abandon what has worked for you until you determine that the new approach is better.
Get Back On The Path
If you've wandered off your success path, your first step on the journey back is to identify where you went off course. Closely examine your behaviors and actions and determine how and why you drifted, and what it will take to get back on course. Are you still doing what made you successful or have you become lazy? Do you need to ask better questions? Do you need a different set of criteria to judge a selling opportunity? Do you need to be more assertive? Whatever you discover, let these four principles guide you and take action.
©Copyright 2003 Marr Professional Development Corporation www.marrsales.com