Process Must Be Clear

It is indisputable that the largest determinant of sales success is the creation and following of a repeatable successful sales process.

Indeed, nothing separates the flush quota-busting rep from their sleepless under-performing colleagues more than the adherence to their finely honed sales process.

Frequent surveys suggest that it almost doesn’t matter what that process is. As long as it is in place that fact alone helps propel achievement.

I’m always on the lookout for such a process and I got one in a sales trainer’s monthly email. It was called ‘clear‘. I welcome any effort to promote ‘process’ in this manner even when as in this case it’s a shame that the explanation offered doesn’t appear in keeping with the suggestion from its name. It’s as if they were desperate to use the word ‘clear’ so jemmied random words to fit in to such mnemonic; Circumstances, Leverage, Expand, Advantage & Requirement.

As an article produced to sell their services, the author obviously tries to be as vague as possible whilst enticing you to learn more. As such the precise breakdown of their proposed process remains deliberately shielded.

Yet the promising news is that they do pass on a couple of tips worthy of repetition, like the tactic, “Don’t talk about your products, services, or solutions”.

The way it’s framed is to promote the seven most common hurdles which their process seemingly overcomes. These are in themselves revealing. To loosely summarise, six are where the prospect hides or denies

• requirement driver
• problem impact
• budget
• access
• decision process
• progress agreement

and a seventh means you’re in death valley.

These first half-a-dozen are reputable facets to a solution sales process, it’s a pity that their proposed way to tackle them isn’t a little more, well, clear, but I guess they’d argue ‘sign-up and all will become crystal’.