Now that the 2018 Midwest Women Business Owners’ Conference is behind us (big celebratory sigh of relief!), we’re focused on overhauling our own Black Dress Partners’ sales process. It’s hard to believe we’ve been helping women business owners grow their businesses for seven years without a formal sales process of our own…it’s the proverbial cobbler’s children running about without shoes.

To date, most of our growth has come organically through word-of-mouth and referrals — but now that our bandwidth has opened up, we’re shifting into higher gear. This is happening through a team effort as we consult with Stark and Associates about their Sandler Training method.

So in May, we invited a few members of the Stark & Associates team (Patti Harty, Becky Vidal, and J.B. Andrews) to join us and speak personally to each of our 5 peer advisory roundtables. They generously shared their professional guidance and tips for positively impacting sales efforts.   

Here are just a few of the top easy-to-implement sales insights they shared with us, to help you boost your sales effectiveness:

 

GET CLEAR ABOUT THE PROSPECT AND THE PAIN

  1. Get Clear About Your Ideal Client Prospect
    This is your most critical first step in sales effectiveness, no matter your industry or challenge. Without clarity in this definition, you can do a lot of needless wheel-spinning and take many unproductive detours. The foundational concept is that if you don’t know precisely who your target audience is, how can you craft a plan for effectively connecting with them.
  2. Identify Your Prospect’s Primary Pain Point
    This second step is all about knowing the pain that your ideal prospect is experiencing and how together you can help them resolve it. Our peer roundtable discussions focused on how, instead of seeing prospects as people ‘we’re trying to sell to’, we can positively shift the dynamic and approach it as a potential partnership where we’re a team in reducing their pain points.

 

LEARN HOW TO BAT

Another topic of value we shared in roundtables was Stark’s BAT Triangle. No nocturnal or sports themes here—this is about Behaviors, Attitudes and Techniques and is all about maximizing sales success. When we get our BAT aligned, our sales efforts hum. Read more about the BAT Triangle below:

 

There are so many gems that came from this month’s roundtable discussion, but here’s just one more we’ll share that’s sure to boost your company’s business sales success:

 

OPERATE FROM THE MULTIPLE OF 3 RULE   

Develop a roadmap of these question areas to use for success in your sales calls:

  •  The top 3 questions any prospect is likely to ask you (and your best, most succinct replies)
  •  The top 3 questions your prospects should ask about you (but often don’t)
  •  The top 3 things you most want your prospects to know about you (i.e. key differentiators you most want them to know about your services or product)

 

My challenge for you:

What might serve as your business’ pivot point based on what you’ve learned here? How can you shift these things into higher gear for yourself and your teams while keeping your eyes focused on the road ahead?

In your challenges, remember that small and consistent changes over time add up to big change and steady growth.

Onward,

Erin Joy

P.S. – Think you don’t have the bandwidth for sales as a solo-preneur?

No matter your business size, prioritize sales-focused activities through time blocking. There are no shortcuts! E.g. An hour reserved every Thursday morning to follow-up introductions, make cold-calls, attend at least one weekly networking function, etc. Learn more during our Time Management & Calendaring Online Workshop coming up on August 10th — RSVP now!