Often times, the seller uses all his efforts to get the sale closed. One as a seller is to sell. And yes, this assessment is correct, but to become a successful salesperson, it is not enough just to sell. Selling a successful salesperson is much more than getting closer to a customer, hooking them into buying and they give you the check and you give them your product or service.
Although every sale should be capped off by closing, a true sale is a process and involves much more than just getting the check. A winning sale is a process in which one as a seller manages to build an excellent relationship with the customer so that he buys again and again.
Many sellers with the obsession to sell now, focus on selling in the short term because it is what directly impacts their immediate installments. But this way of selling sooner or later causes more lows than highs, especially in this new world economy that we have. It is not surprising that frustration and demotivation are generated in the commercial and staff rotation, since there is a lack of a well-structured plan that also covers the medium and long term.
A real case
Not long ago I was working with a sales professional who considers himself a born, exceptional, and passionate salesperson. This person for several years has done very well selling and selling at great profits. Now, for some time to date, his selling power has drastically dropped and his income has diminished accordingly. And worst of all, although it gives hints that it may rebound, its future is very black. This salesperson is certainly a charismatic person with a gift for words and knows how to hook and captivate not only the customer but also everyone who speaks.
The approach of this salesperson essentially consists of making the sale of the moment without planning and having a well-defined objective, an effective follow-up strategy, without having a system for measuring their sales efforts in each of the stages of the sale. sale. In other words, planning is not his thing as he says.
This salesperson told me in his own words: “I consider that the important thing is to sell and that with everything I have to do to sell, on a day-to-day basis, I don't have the time to think about planning, although I know it is important, but I am a man of action ”.
Uff, these words sounded terrifying to me. Exaggerated, not so much!
It is true that the obsession to meet sales quotas makes sellers have a strong tendency to be extremely busy in actions that give short-term results. However, the sales situations that arise during their day take such a priority that it absorbs a large part of their time and energy and does not leave them space or clarity to be able to dedicate themselves to other activities that are important such as planning based on in priorities.
It is clear that in order to plan, you have to dedicate quality time to do it. It is true that there are also many professionals who realize this fact and get down to work to find this time. Unfortunately in this step, many tend to fail because they look for time where there is none. Since they try to manage time with the focus that what is important is time and not priorities.
The ideal time management
From a conventional view based on time, time management could be defined as the action of allocating the time that one has available in the correct activities.
And from a priorities perspective, time management is effectively achieved when activities are carried out in relation to priorities, focusing on everything that is really productive in the short, medium and long term.
With the conventional view, it is not uncommon for many salespeople to find planning tedious to the point that it becomes a limiting belief of the type "I am not organized" or "Planning is not my thing", etc; they only have time to be in actions of the moment and they even spend a lot of time putting out fires generated by everything that happens to them during the day. The interesting thing is that these types of sellers are the ones who usually create many fire extinguishers themselves, directly or indirectly, due to their lack of planning. Paradoxical truth!
On the other hand, those who organize and carry out their sales actions based on priorities have an approach that covers not only the immediate but also gives great importance when planning. This way of acting becomes a fundamental habit for this type of salesperson, since by planning what is really important and productive, they can foresee risk situations and take the pertinent actions before they happen and, on the other hand, promote actions that give results and maximize their efforts becoming high-performing salespeople. They are highly productive professionals not only due to streaks but over time and they tend to grow their sales in a sustainable way.
Where do you want to be
True success itself is a process and not an end. Hence, to be permanently successful one must know which are the intermediate points and the stages of the process that must be followed and this is where planning based on priorities with clear and motivating objectives allows us to achieve our goals.
