How Sales Projects Strengthen Our Economy
"Nothing happens until someone sells something." Each sale causes goods and services to flow in one direction, and cash to flow in the other direction.
The Urgency of Achieving Your Sales Goals
As salespeople and sales leaders, we have an awesome responsibility to make something happen. Our economy needs us now, more than ever. To strengthen our economy, we must increase the flow by selling more.
How to Sell More
How do you sell more? You get better at all aspects of selling. You become a better prospector, a better qualifier, a better need-finder. You make better presentations. You handle objections better. You become a better closer. You follow up better. As a result, you win more sales. You build a larger community of loyal customers, who refer their friends to you.
How to Sell Better
Most salespeople and sales leaders begin the year with their annual sales goals, their personal strength, and their optimism. During the year, they may receive sales training to fine-tune their skills.
Part 1: Get Better Sales Training
If their sales training is like most programs, it's based on the sellers point of view. It's about the selling process. The buyer's role is merely to buy after being exposed to the selling process.
To sell better, we need a more realistic sales training program. The new program must be focused on the buyer, not the seller. After all, it's the buyer's decision and the buyer's money. We sell more by enabling and enriching more buyers.
Part 2: Make It a Project
An annual sales program can either be a collection of activities, or a sales project.
An annual collection of activities may keep everyone busy, but the activities are usually not connected.
A sales project is focused on achieving the project goal: the sales quota. A sales project includes milestone events during the year. Each milestone contains a deliverable, a due date and an accountable person. Accountability leads to achievement.
Each milestone is comprised of activity steps. Each step contains a deliverable, a due date and an accountable person.
When the steps are completed on time, they cause each milestone to be completed on time. When each milestone is completed on time, they cause the project to be completed on time.
To maximize your sales, and improve our economy, you need a sales project. A successful project requires project management. Here's how it works:
- Your annual sales goal becomes the goal (and deliverable) of the project.
- Weekly, monthly and quarterly sales goals become milestone events of the project.
- Activities to achieve your milestones become steps of your project. Because they all have deliverables, due dates and accountability, they tend to get done on time.
- Regular progress meetings enable feedback and mid-course adjustments.
Why It Matters
Our economy, your company and your checking account need more sales today. A sales project is the best tool to increase your sales. Let's apply project management to selling now.
