Thoughtful Thursdays – Shorten your sales cycle
I have talked about shortening sales cycles before. Recent client meetings have inspired me to write about the topic again. Successful professional sales people consistently seek ways to shorten their sales cycle.
Today’s thought is about what to consider doing before making changes to your sales process. You have likely heard the phrase “If it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it” and I agree to a point. That point being, do not make changes before knowing how they will be beneficial.
Back to shortening your sales cycle. The first step I suggest is to map your sales cycle step by step. It is process and can be analyzed like any other operation. Once the steps have been identified, write down the time it takes for you to complete each step. This is the effort. Follow that with the time that step can span, this is the duration. The duration can be much longer than the effort you put in and is often a result of having to depending on someone else.
Now that your process has been mapped, look for the steps that require the most time to complete. This is where time saved can have the most impact on your saes cycle.
The challenge is to find ways that will accelerate the process without necessarily removing a step.
This kind of analysis is key to shortening your sales cycle. Know where the time is being used before taking steps to reduce it. Not knowing can lead to the elimination of necessary steps.
Good selling,
Richard
Have a question about sales? Contact me and I will respond.
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