FIVE BASIC STEPS to any sale
American writer, E.B. White had it right when he wrote,
“Humor can be dissected, as a frog can; but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind.”
In the same way, the whole sales process can be dissected, scrutinized, studied and complicated beyond the grasp of common sense. It becomes stymied by “analysis-paralysis” and we end up thinking instead of acting.
Lets cut to the chase and simplify the whole process. It’s not all that hard.
The key is to first strip away the clutter and get down to the fundamental basics with the following steps:
A. Figure out what your current situation really is and compare that to where you would like to be in the future.
B. Next, discover those things (thoughts, opinions, actions or inactions) that haven’t worked to get the results you want.
C. Then, isolate the things that have consistently worked in the past.
D. Throw out the unworkable; focus on and strengthen the workable; develop a creative, doable plan to utilize what you can do right now with what you’ve got, that will get the job done.
E. Don’t get caught up in piling on more complexity by trying to fix things that aren’t important to getting to the goal; let them go and pour the coals on effective promotion and production.
* * *
“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” These words, written by Henry David Thoreau, are worth taking to heart. The more you simplify the process, the more successful you’ll be. Once rid of nonessential baggage and complexities, the sales process is as follows:
FIVE BASIC STEPS of any sale.
1. Have a valuable product or service to offer for sale to people.
2. Make your product or service known to people who may need or want what you’re offering.
3. Contact and communicate with individuals about what you can deliver that meets their needs.
4. Reach a mutually satisfactory agreement regarding price and terms.
5. Receive payment and deliver what was promised.
IMPORTANT – You can create complexities that didn’t exist if:
• any of these steps is missing,
• you take these steps out of order
• you add in any unnecessary steps.
Corollary: Don’t create unnecessary complexities.
Instead – think, feel and act with simplicity.
These FIVE BASIC STEPS of any sale – if understood and applied – will simplify your sales process and strengthen your sales closes. They are not intended to make you think. They are intended to make you act . . . successfully!
Have fun.
daniel w. jacobs
© 2008 – 2020, all rights reserved
Sales Master Class Series
