This is the tale of two salespeople: Fred who has a proven sales process and Eleanor who does not. By contrasting their experience, their results and their level of confidence in the future, we can see how a sales process can transform an average, struggling salesperson into a businessperson with a predictable income.

Both Fred and Eleanor have been in sales for about ten years and so neither is a rookie nor are they naïve about what it takes to be successful. They both work hard. They are both on commission. They are both in the same industry.

But Fred makes nearly twice as much income as Eleanor, works slightly fewer hours, and is optimistic about the future. Eleanor’s not sure whether or not she still wants to be selling in five years.

Eleanor was mentored by an old salesperson who believed that selling was an art form. “It’s all about personality, getting to know the right people and being charming,” he would explain. About five years ago, Fred attended the ACCISS sales program and learned that successful selling is all of that, but it’s also a science and a step-by-step process that can be learned, practiced, critiqued, and improved upon over time. Fred’s coach told him, “When selling becomes a process, it ceases to be a problem. When selling isn’t a process, it’s always a problem.”

Eleanor would prospect for new business when she had time, when her chequing account was getting low or when her sales manager would get on her case.

Fred was always prospecting and kept a daily record of how many sales appointments and service appointments he had, how many referrals he got, how many phone calls he made to set up appointments and how much time he spent in ‘selling’ activities versus administration or driving.

Eleanor had a rough idea what she would say when she met someone for the first time, but for the most part she would ‘wing it’. She felt she would come across as more natural and would be better liked as a result.

Fred knew exactly what he planned to say and was prepared to be flexible if it turned out not to be appropriate. But he would also analyze those situations afterward to determine if he needed to change his approach or change the type of prospect he was seeing.

If Eleanor went for a month without sales, she would be discouraged, frustrated and annoyed, but she had few benchmarks or statistics to compare to, so was uncertain what she needed to change in order to improve her sales.

Fred never went a month without sales. He always knew exactly where he stood relative to his own benchmark and if anything was beginning to slip, his ‘dashboard’ of information told him what changes he needed to make to get back on track. He knew how many new prospects, first appointments, second appointments, proposals, follow-ups and closing appointments he had at any given time. He knew his standard and if he was off track. If he was not making enough sales, he could assess his numbers and determine if he didn’t have enough first appointments or if his ratios (number of first appointments::to second interviews, or closing interviews::sales) were off.

At the end of an appointment, if Eleanor made the sale, it was “because everything just clicked.” If she didn’t get a sale she didn’t know what went wrong. Often she blamed it on the prospect, the economy, the poor marketing materials provided by her company or the antiquated website her company maintained.

At the end of each appointment Fred had a checklist to assess if he missed any steps, got off track or said things he shouldn’t have said. Sometimes he was reminded to go back and ask a question or cover a point he had missed and was able to re-engage the prospect to keep the sales process going.

When the economy slumped, Eleanor assumed things would simply get worse, that she had no control, and she might as well just hunker down to ride out the storm. Fred on the other hand assumed control, went back to his sales process, decided where he could work a little harder and a little smarter and was able to keep his sales on track with little noticeable change in his results.

A sales process that enables you to map out a plan, refine the plan with statistical feedback and establish benchmarks for success will help you leverage your charming personality into a predictable revenue stream. For more information on the ACCISS Sales Process, speak to the person who sent you this newsletter or go to www.theachievementcentre.com.