Do You Think Sales is a Numbers Game – You are Wrong

Given the same product knowledge, abilities, experience and territory, why is the deal closure different for each individual. A few of them make 10 new contacts and a few make just one. Who is likely to sell more? This is a basic concept that is so far considered the indisputable secret of success in sales. The theory is that all we need to do is call, call, call. Fill our pipeline with prospects and turn them into customers ultimately.

The problem with this popular belief is that it encourages liner thinking: If you pour more prospects in the top of the funnel, more customers come out of the bottom. But is it true? If your salespeople are following up too many leads or wrong leads, “opening the spigot” can actually reduce the number of sales that they can eventually make.

All these years we’ve been tuned to believing that following up with every prospect is a must do for a successful career in sales. But what if the path to success is not this after all?

We can generate more sales with fewer prospects

Selling is more a performance game than a number game. Over time, we’ve seen that the top sellers are pursuing fewer prospects.

When they are spending more time working on fewer prospects, they spend more time thinking critically. They take out time to

• Define the goals and objective of prospect
• Guide the prospect until the end of the sales cycle
• Add value to every interaction throughout the cycle

Top sellers identify the best prospects and spend the time to understand the value of the business solution and importantly how changing the status quo can impact the organization.  

So this week try this instead:

Make a few calls lesser than usual calls. Utilize the time efficiently to open with prospects and not shut down.

1. Focus on making a conversation and not a pitch.
2. Listen and understand the pain points before pushing out your solution
3. Provide a solution addressing the pain points.
4. Use a polished conversation that makes you stand out from the competition.

In a competitive world, the obsolete way of sales techniques has lost effectiveness. Many salespeople continue to think that adding more customers to the top of the funnel will give them a choice and they will find someone to whom the product can be sold. Though it may work in some cases, it is not sustainable in the long run as a business strategy.

People want to do business with someone who cares about them and has their best interests in mind. Hone your skills and approach the sale like no one else.

CRM software like Bulbul can help you compare the sales funnel before and after making the changes. It will help you understand the difference in adopting this new approach.

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