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- Image via Dark Matter
Skip Anderson’s piece on “The Random Sales Process” caught my eye. How true is this. Most sales people and organizations I encounter are on a long, meandering, and random walk towards a sales goal.
Is it a wonder many a sales quota is missed?
Take Out the Randomness
The biggest cause of randomness in my sales experience has been cherry picking leads. C’mon admit it–you spend hours deciding who to call next. Chances are you feel unprepared; there is something in the lead data that intimidates or underwhelms you; or you simply have phone anxiety.
Despite all the hoopla over athletes visualization and meditation routines there is a reason Nike’s tag line is: “Just Do It!”
Michael Jordan was the best because of thousands of shots taken (most of which he even admits he missed) and Tiger Woods still hits 400+ golf balls a day. They are taking out the randomness!
Truth is that the law of big numbers covers most mistakes and certainly a ton of inefficiency.
Know What Gets You There
If you want to go big and squeeze out the opportunity to go random, here is the easiest way to do it…
Figure out where you want to go and work backwards to see what gets you there. Try this simple worksheet:
- Sales Goal ($):
- Average Deal Size:
- Number of average units to hit goal:
- Average conversion of leads to deals:
- Number of leads I need to contact to his goal:
Number 5 is your number–randomness gone!
Plan to Learn (and Improve)
The next biggest challenge that introduces randomness is thinking you need to do something to get ready. Do you use any of these classics?
- I need marketing collateral
- I need a case study or whitepaper
- I need new business cards
- I need a website or blog
Hog wash!
More sales secrets revealed: You need more good conversations!
Those good conversations will teach you everything you need and more importantly reveal all the things you don’t need to waste your time on.
Eliminate Randomness in Sales
Why are you still reading? I told you everything you need to know to eliminate randomness. Now, go do it!
Check in tomorrow and leave a comment to tell me how it is going.
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