Every sale goes through the same seven-stage cycle,
from prospecting all the way through to asking for referrals from the
new customer. But the length of this cycle can vary greatly depending on
the product or service you're selling.
As a rule of thumb, the more expensive a product is, the longer the sales cycle tends to get. If you're asking a prospect to spend a significant amount of money, they'll usually need more wooing from you and will take longer to come to a final decision.
B2B sales cycles are generally longer than B2C. With B2B, just getting to the decision maker can be a challenge. Worse, there are often multiple decision makers you'll have to convince, each with their own set of objections.
In other words, the length of your selling cycle is not entirely within your control. If you are selling copy machines to businesses, your sales cycle will be longer than if you are selling greeting cards to walk-in consumers. But that doesn't mean the length of the sales cycle is entirely out of your hands.
It's possible to take control of your sales cycle and adjust its timing, within limits. Almost all salespeople can benefit from a shortened sales cycle, since speeding up the sales process means you'll close sales (and get paid for them) faster and usually leads to a greater total number of sales.
The first step in shortening your sales process is improving your qualification process. First, a prospect who is just barely qualified will need more hand-holding from you before you can fit them up with the right product. Second, by qualifying intensively you'll start to learn what the customer's objections are likely to be, and you can accelerate the process of resolving those objections. Third, qualifying B2B customers tightly helps you to confirm that you're dealing with the actual decision maker, so you'll spend less time pitching to people who won't be doing the buying.
Second, learn everything you can about your products and your company. The more you know, the less often you'll have to tell prospects “I'll get back to you with the answer.” Plus, if you are clearly an expert on your own products, you'll generate confidence in your prospects. They'll be more willing to trust you and will be more open about their objections.
Third, invite the prospect to share their objections as early in the cycle as possible. Resolving objections early on helps you to uncover them all, even the ones that prospects like to keep to themselves. It can also help build trust, if you make it clear to the prospect that you take their objections seriously and are meeting those objections with solid resolutions, not just brushing them aside.
Fourth, make as many preparations as possible well in advance of the actual appointment. Do some research on the prospect and customize your presentation using the data you unearth. Be ready with responses to common objections. Learn as much as you can about the decision makers, particularly their hobbies or other personal information, so that you can quickly begin building rapport.
Closing a sale really comes down to developing a level of trust with the prospect. If you take a few precautions and approach the prospect respectfully, you can hasten this trust-building process and reduce the sales cycle to the shortest possible duration.
By Wendy Connick
sales.about.com
As a rule of thumb, the more expensive a product is, the longer the sales cycle tends to get. If you're asking a prospect to spend a significant amount of money, they'll usually need more wooing from you and will take longer to come to a final decision.
B2B sales cycles are generally longer than B2C. With B2B, just getting to the decision maker can be a challenge. Worse, there are often multiple decision makers you'll have to convince, each with their own set of objections.
In other words, the length of your selling cycle is not entirely within your control. If you are selling copy machines to businesses, your sales cycle will be longer than if you are selling greeting cards to walk-in consumers. But that doesn't mean the length of the sales cycle is entirely out of your hands.
It's possible to take control of your sales cycle and adjust its timing, within limits. Almost all salespeople can benefit from a shortened sales cycle, since speeding up the sales process means you'll close sales (and get paid for them) faster and usually leads to a greater total number of sales.
The first step in shortening your sales process is improving your qualification process. First, a prospect who is just barely qualified will need more hand-holding from you before you can fit them up with the right product. Second, by qualifying intensively you'll start to learn what the customer's objections are likely to be, and you can accelerate the process of resolving those objections. Third, qualifying B2B customers tightly helps you to confirm that you're dealing with the actual decision maker, so you'll spend less time pitching to people who won't be doing the buying.
Second, learn everything you can about your products and your company. The more you know, the less often you'll have to tell prospects “I'll get back to you with the answer.” Plus, if you are clearly an expert on your own products, you'll generate confidence in your prospects. They'll be more willing to trust you and will be more open about their objections.
Third, invite the prospect to share their objections as early in the cycle as possible. Resolving objections early on helps you to uncover them all, even the ones that prospects like to keep to themselves. It can also help build trust, if you make it clear to the prospect that you take their objections seriously and are meeting those objections with solid resolutions, not just brushing them aside.
Fourth, make as many preparations as possible well in advance of the actual appointment. Do some research on the prospect and customize your presentation using the data you unearth. Be ready with responses to common objections. Learn as much as you can about the decision makers, particularly their hobbies or other personal information, so that you can quickly begin building rapport.
Closing a sale really comes down to developing a level of trust with the prospect. If you take a few precautions and approach the prospect respectfully, you can hasten this trust-building process and reduce the sales cycle to the shortest possible duration.
By Wendy Connick
sales.about.com
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