Selling is an art as well as a science. And, fortunately, the selling process is learnable. It doesn't matter how well you have performed in the past. You can learn how to achieve your sales goals by mastering the following critical success factors: (Give yourself a grade of 1 to 10 in each category.)
1. Prospecting. One of the first key performance indicators and critical success factors in selling is prospecting. This is your ability to get face-to-face or ear-to- ear with qualified prospects who can and will buy your product or service within a reasonable amount of time.
A score of 10 means you are fully occupied, every hour of every day and that you have so many prospects you can't take on even one more. You probably have an appointments secretary who keeps a backlog of people who are eager to talk to and buy from you.
A score of 1 means you are a lonely person. You sit around the office like the Maytag repairman. You don't phone anyone and no one calls you. You probably drink a lot of coffee, read the newspaper, play on the Internet and chat with your friends much of the time.
It is easy to give yourself a grade on the subject of prospecting. Just calculate what percentage of your time spent each day with prearranged prospects. If it's 50 percent, give yourself a 5. If it's 70 percent, give yourself a 7.
2. Establishing rapport, trust and credibility. The second key area is establishing rapport, trust and credibility. People will not buy from you unless they like you, trust you and believe you are their friend and are acting in their best interests.
A score of 10 in this area means you are a positive, cheerful, high-energy individual with a warm, empathetic personality and that you get along wonderfully with almost everyone you meet.
3. Identifying needs accurately. The third key area of selling is identifying needs accurately. The biggest mistake you can make when you meet or talk to a new prospect is to assume you already know what a prospect needs and is willing to pay for. Each prospect is unique, special and different from all other prospects. He or she has special wants, needs, hopes, fears and desires. In the initial stage of your conversation, your single focus is to ask questions and listen carefully to ascertain whether or not a genuine need for what you sell exists in the prospect's mind and heart.
