Three Silos and Five Questions

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For sales professionals, everywhere

Even though my soon to be trademarked sales process of “Sell it or Schedule it” has a 25-year history, it is also a dynamic process. I amend it regularly as I learn where salespeople struggle to understand or implement particular aspects of it, or when salespeople share with me elements that have helped them to make it their own more quickly. Recently, I was revisiting the BADAS Questions – those five areas of discussion and information that, based on how the customer answers the questions, will tell you where they are in their buying process – in short, CAN they buy today. They are critical and essential to determine as part of Discovery…and yet, many salespeople get a couple of them asked and answered but struggle to get them all. In revisiting them, I again asked myself “How can I make these easier to understand and incorporate?”

The Rule of Three tends to help people to remember something…and The BADAS Questions really are about three things: Time, Money, Other People. Specifically, Time as it relates to how long someone can wait for special order/when they multiethnic-people-time-money-concepts-group-46324468need to have it in their home (Availability) AND how long they have been in the process of deciding/buying this product (Shopping/Comparing)? Money as it relates to how much they expect to invest (Budget) and what they have access to or have set aside for this purchase (Ability to Buy)? And lastly, is everyone who needs to be here to do this here…or how can we involve them to get this done today (Decision Maker)? Time, Money, Other People. Be willing to stay in the conversations in each silo until you learn what you need to know to determine if they can buy today or if you need to make an appointment – on the phone, in their home, back in the store. These three areas of Time, Money and Other People are also the 3 greatest Objections…so we can bring them up early as part of Discovery and include them in the sales presentation, or we can get REALLY good at managing these as objections. The former is more powerful and effective.

And if you need help with this, call me. 877-663-9663.

Now, go sell something.

oxo,

Jody

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High Impact Actions

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For sales leaders, everywhere

Many retailers use statistics to measure performance and results, and there are some constants that all retailers measure: Traffic, close ratio, average sale.  All are measurable, all matter, and all have specific actions to increase them.

There are retailers who add another statistic – sales per guest/dollars per opportunity/performance index. Whatever you call it, they all measure the same thing: Total revenue divided by total traffic. It is a combination of close ratio and average sale. It indicates how much every opportunity is worth to each salesperson based on what they do with it, and how well the store is doing. Since it’s a number that measures more than one thing, I have often worked with retailers to lean one way and develop a strategy toward either improving close ratio OR average sale.

Recently, I was working on a seminar for Furniture Row and thinking about this statistic close ration einstein again, and asked myself “Are there actions that improve both close ratio and average sale that would definitely increase performance index?” And yes, there are three: Sketch the room, make appointments to close, use financing for purchases.

As sales leaders, you want to direct your teams to the actions that will get the highest impact AND, since you can’t watch and focus on everything, you and your team members need to reliably and consistently execute the actions that get the biggest return. These do that. Take a look at your team and YOUR actions to direct these three actions and dial up the visibility and accountability.

And if you need help with this, call me. 877-663-9663.

Now, go help your team to sell something.

oxo,

Jody

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A Measure of Relationship Value

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For everyone, everywhere

I once had a customer who was a bit of a maverick in his marketplace and in the industry. He has since passed away, but Chuck Forcey was a character. When he was in the military, he flew planes and was on an elite fighter team…and he brought his irreverent ways with him.

Fortunately, he had a commander who was tougher and more focused than Chuck was and while he respected and appreciated what Chuck brought to the team, he refused to let the team be defined by one of its members. To address a particularly aberrant behavior, the commander pulled Chuck aside and told him: “You are a valued member of this team…and you will have a place on this team as long as your contribution exceeds your aggravation…and not a moment longer.” I LOVE that measure of relationships … and don’t we all use something like that, even if it’s not as clearly stated? Think about it as you evaluate design project clients, hire new associates, work for rogue employers…and maybe closer to home, too.

A new thought for a new year.

Now, go sell something.

oxo,

Jody

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