3 Steps To Successful Selling

OK, so I made this a little too easy;perhaps. When you can speed read the titles of blog posts, articles, books, and most other mediums, something that is "short and sweet" can catch your eye and possibly draw you in.

In my 27+ years in sales and sales management, while there is almost NOTHING new under the sun, there are different ways to package the sunshine. Here is a 3-step plan to help both new sales reps and seasoned professionals get a firm grip on selling.

1. Identify- You can call it planning, pre-planning, getting ready, scrubbing a database...whatever. Just remember there has to be a beginning to the sales process; to the Art and Science of selling. All I am recommending is that you IDENTIFY the right group of people who would be interested in your product or service. If you are selling to a female market, stop talking to men! If your product is best suited for the Information Technology world, fondly known as IT, why would you concentrate on the Sales teams? Identification is the process of sorting out the tools you need; lists, contacts, mailings, awareness campaigns, email blasts, blogs, etc. Identify your possible strengths and challenges. Identify where you need more training, more education, more data....Simplify this to make it easier to get to step #2.
2. Qualify - Now that you have a group of people identified and you are speaking to them, cull the herd. This should be a "fun" process. Meaning, have some fun with this. Make this more of a game that a death march. Remember, people are going to say one of 3 things. (1) Yes, (2) No, (3) Maybe. No is part of the qualification step. You will love the fact that in Step #2; Qualification, you are making progress. You are talking to people who either connect with you and your product/service or they do not. No worries, it is all part of the game of Selling. Not everyone needs what you have. If it were that easy, EVERYONE would be in sales. Hey, wait a minute...WE ARE ALL IN SALES. We are selling our ideas, our opinions, our dreams, hopes, and desires. We are being sold to. We are all in the process of Qualification.
3. Educate - Bingo. You have found some people who are interested. Interested enough that you start the Education process. Remember the people who said "No" and "Maybe" in Step #2. They are the people who need more data. Sometimes "No" means "I don't KNOW enough about what you are selling." Sometimes, "Maybe" is just a lack of understanding of what your product or service does. They need you to help them via EDUCATION. This is a great step because both you and your prospect/customer are in the learning mode. You are learning about them, they are learning about you. You are learning about Human Behavior, and it is all EDUCATION.

Now, you might be thinking "Curt, that is just too simplistic for me." Hey, I understand. Yet, I have found that the more we break down the complex into the simple, the easier it is to package, to promote, and to articulate.

Your thoughts?

What has been working for you?