Get in the Flow - Damian Johnson

Damian Johnson - “SERVING UP SALES”

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INTRODUCTION
It doesn’t matter how talented your sales team is, or how hard you work. Without a roadmap for success, you’re making your life a lot harder than it needs to be.
A sales process is a set of repeatable steps that your sales team takes to convert a prospect into a customer. Having a standardized sales process adds structure and accountability to your sales activities, leading to a higher win rate and shorter sales cycles.
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Show Objectives - The Why
According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, a study conducted by Vantage Point Performance and the Sales Management Association, B2B companies that defined a formal sales process experienced 18% more revenue growth compared to companies that didn’t.
There is a direct correlation between effective sales process and strong revenue growth. So if you want more revenue growth (and who doesn’t), then having a clearly defined sales process is critical. Sales is too important to any business owner to leave this up to chance and just wrong it. In today’s show, we will dig into defining the sales process. 
Key Issues - Owner Perspective:
What exactly does it mean to have a formal sales process? For starters, it means having clearly defined stages and milestones that are universally understood by your salespeople. Your sales team shouldn’t have to guess where a particular deal stands or how they should be managing deals in each stage. 

In addition, your sales process should align with how your customers move through their buying process. Too many sales teams use generic sales processes, and consequently get generic sales performance. Invest the time in developing a unique process for your team, and make sure that they understand how to use it. 


What You Need to Know - The What
A sales process consists of a series of stages—usually three to seven, depending on the sale’s complexity—which cover the major milestones of a sale. Each stage consists of tasks, which are the key activities your team must perform in order to advance the sale from stage to stage. 

​The first step in building a sales process is gaining a full understanding of what your sales team is currently doing to turn leads into customers. What is the first thing that your sales reps do to connect with a potential buyer, and what is the last thing they do to finish the sale? With those end-points in mind, you can begin to fill in the blanks.


What You Need to Do - The How
To build an effective sales process, begin with asking the right question. This can be done by taking a handful of your recent leads and going through several questions with your reps and then looking at some common stages and tasks you might consider including in your own sales process. The answers will help you understand the specific activities that your team is currently performing during the course of a sale. A few good questions to ask are:

1. How was the lead acquired?
   
2. How was the lead distributed or assigned?
   
3. How did the sales rep make first contact with the lead (i.e., email or phone)?
   
4. How many attempts did the sales rep make to establish contact with each lead?
   
5. Did the rep’s contact attempts follow a specific schedule or cadence?
   
6. After making contact with a lead, what questions did the sales rep ask in the initial conversation?
   
7. How were the answers to those questions recorded?
   
8. How did the sales rep coordinate follow-up contact?
   
9. Which files, documents, or other content were sent to the lead?
   
10. At what point were those resources delivered?
    
11. How did the sales rep present your company’s solution? (i.e., on-site visit, webinar, phone call)
    
12. What did the rep do to prepare for that presentation?
    
13. When and how was your company’s proposal delivered?
    
14. What were the major sticking points during negotiations?
    
15. If the lead was lost, why was it lost?
    
16. If the lead was won and the sale was completed, what did your first post-sale contact with the customer look like?
    

The answers to these questions will help you determine the best and most effective sales approaches to implement to serve up more sales and drive revenue growth.
Damian Johnson 
Having over two decades in a successful sales career in the mortgage sector, Damian continues to pursue his passion in sales and people development.
Damian is also the Owner of Mandeville Ingleside LLC, whose mission is to develop and equip leaders, professionals, business owners and individuals who are able to build stronger teams that deliver demonstrated optimal performance and results.
Damian is passionate about equipping leaders and helping people to take action that will maximize their potential. His success and experience has allowed him to advance his reach, influence and impact by working with international organizations and teams who want to leverage their sales teams potential through in-person and virtual training programs across the Caribbean Islands (Trinidad, Barbados, Jamaica), Europe (U.K.), Africa (Liberia), and South America (Costa Rica). In a strategic pivot to expand his reach internationally, he is also a Radio Talent with the International Business Growth Network.
You can connect with Damian on Facebook and Instagram via his handle @iamdamianjohnson