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FEATURE STORY
The Sales Process:
Lessons From the Motor City
DBy Greg Coyne
etroit is known as “Motor City.” Part of the reason was due to Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company “perfecting” the use of the production line. The dictionary definition of a production line is “a series of workers and machines in a factory by which a
succession of identical items is progressively assembled.” Manufacturing companies make sure that when a product is being produced there are certain standards they’re hitting. They also assess whether the product passes the company’s quality check. If it does, it moves on. If it doesn’t, then it is rejected by the line. If a significant amount of the product is rejected, then adjustments must be made to get the line running correctly again. Sales is not a production line. However, it does have similarities:
● They both involve a process
● Both have a purpose – for the company and the
consumer/prospect
● They create results, whether it’s a product or a solution
● They both involve preparation, sequences, supervision,
measurements and requirements
When you look at your sales or business development as a production line, you start to analyze your sales as a process. It’s linear. It provides a start, a finish and a flow. It also helps you measure your performance.
Performance can be a moving target for business owners, sales managers and sales people alike. Most organizations move their profits up and down based on estimates from their previous year’s sales. However, when asked about how their teams achieved these goals, many do not know. Usually there was limited tracking and/or a lack of a sales process.
When you look at your sales process as a production line, you need to start at the beginning – prospects. How do they get on the conveyor belt to get started – what are their qualifications? Is interest in your product or service enough for you to meet with them, or are your quality controls stricter? Do they need to fall into a certain parameter for you to sit down with them – a territory, a certain niche, a revenue ceiling, etc.?
Once they enter the production line, what’s the process for getting them from the beginning (“Point A”) through the end of the Line (“Point B”)? How do you pre-call plan for your opportunities? How do you assess the prospect’s needs and desired results? How badly do they want the desired result, and what are they willing to do to get them? Are they willing and able to invest in what you do? Who will be involved in this decision – and who else?
What does your model look like? What are the sequences to this model? Can you and your team specifically give it detail, or is it not mapped out to collective use? Is there a defined outcome for each part of your model?
Let’s pretend you have an opportunity with a prospect. Is it the right fit for both parties or is it out of scope? If you lack a model or process, how will you know? How does this look for you?
Companies want results, but most do not have a written process to help the sales team deliver those results. If you begin to look at your sales process as a production line, you’ll begin developing a process. You’ll begin to see that each part of your process requires quality controls. If a prospect doesn’t have the money to invest in your product or service, quality control stops the line and removes the prospect. If not all the decision makers are available to decide or you aren’t in front of the decision makers, quality control removes the opportunity.
Don’t forget: you might not qualify with the prospect. They may see or hear things along the way that make you removed from their production line and the opportunity ends for you.
When you view your sales as a production line, you begin to see the successes and gaps of your sales teams and your business. It gives you greater understanding of the process or helps you to begin determining a process of your own, giving you more control over the end results.
I’ve asked a lot of questions, but over my many years in this business, I’ve realized these are questions not being asked enough of business owners. They want results, but are working on the wrong end of the problem. If you are looking to increase your business in 2017, the first item to review is your sales process. Begin looking at it like the Motor City would. It will help you to correct some of your deficiencies and help to duplicate successes. — SBAM
Greg Coyne is a graduate of Albion College and based in Southfield. Greg has been actively involved with Gerry Weinberg & Associates-Sandler Training since 2009. He has an additional 9 + years of success in sales & business development in the advertising industry. He has helped a wide variety of companies
whose presidents and individuals were worried that their sales process was not getting them the results they wanted. Through Sandler Training, his clients learn how to use a system to become more mentally tough, sell more in less time and stop wasting valuable time with prospects they will never do business with.
12 January/February 2017