Thoughtful Thursdays - Do you know what your selling process is?

I read Paul Castain's latest Sales Playbook recent post titled "3 Traps To Avoid In Your Next Meeting" today and could not agree more with his thoughts on the need to have a sales process.

Veteran purchasers will employ many tactics to get you off your plan. Even experienced sales reps can fall prey to these actions and in the interest of making a sale, or fear of loosing a sale, forget all about value and begin to pitch without knowing what the customer needs are.

In addition to Paul's great advice on how to avoid the 3 traps I would add the following suggestions. These apply regardless of your experience as even the most savvy can get caught. Why do you think professionals practice as often as they do?

• Set objectives for all your meetings
• Determine what you need to know to achieve those objectives
• Write your questions down and have them with you
• Write down what you are not ready to discuss to help keep you focused on the job at hand

Selling is all about helping and you will be the most helpful when you know exactly what the needs are. Make your selling process routine practice and you be better positioned to avoid the traps.

Good selling,
Richard