Sales Resources & Opportunities

For Small Business Owners and Sales People

Last week, Comprehensive Consulting Solutions for Small Businesses hosted a “Sales Training Class: Back to the Basics” at the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The sales class was presented by Mollie Watkins, Small Business Consultant, and was focused on self-exploration, activities, and engagement with other attendees. There were no computers or screens – attendees participated in group discussions and individual activities.

During the class, we reviewed social styles, emotional intelligence, neuro-linguistic programming, non-verbal gestures and clusters, opportunities for sales people, self-exploration into our motivations and numbers, know your product/service, know your customer, and sales process. These are the components for our version of Sales Process – Ethics in Selling, Prospecting and Preapproach, Approach, Identify Needs / Need Discovery, Sales Presentation and Overcoming Objections, Sales Close, After the Sale, & Recontact and Follow-Up.

Feedback from the participants’ surveys said that the Sales Training Class was a great class with a lot of interaction, useful information, and thought-provoking activities. While preparing the class, we found a lot of great resources for small business owners and sales people and wanted to share some of those. The resources listed below include articles about overcoming objections, sales pipeline, mirroring, SPIN, tie downs and trial closes, and close. Also, wanted to remind our readers that if you, a sales person, follow-up and ask for the sale – you will be way ahead of most sales people.

63% to 64% of sales people DON’T ASK FOR THE SALE (depending on the source) and ONLY 10% of salespeople make more than 3 contacts – all we can say is that’s a NO! Make sure leads are followed-up on and you ask for the sale – those are in our control! A couple other things to keep in mind would be opportunities for sales people. We see the following as the largest opportunities for sales people:

1. Attitude & Perception

2. Ask for the Sale

3. Daily Activities and Organization

4. Sales Pipeline & Lead Follow-up Sales Process – step in process, objections, lack of active listening, knowledge for presentation, setting expectations, etc

Sales Resources:

• Lead Follow-up Process

• The Complete Guide on Building and Managing Your Sales Pipeline Aspects of a First Impression Every Salesperson Needs to Know

• Why Aren’t You Using More Tie Downs & Trial Closes? 7 Common Sales Objections and How to Overcome Them 8 Tips for Handling Sales Objections

• How To Close a Sale: 7 Closing Techniques and Why They Work

Please note: the resources listed above aren’t endorsements by us – they are provided only as information. We were not paid by or affiliated with any of the companies listed.

Comprehensive Consulting Solutions for Small Businesses is located in Northwest Arkansas (NWA) and can help with sales coaching, process consulting, and sales training. Call a Small Business Consultant today at 479-935-2488 to see what coaching or consulting solutions are best for your business!