Make Your Sales Process Boring

“You need to make your sales process boring and predictable. If you want an adventure, go jump out of a plane.” Those words from my recent guest on the Create, Build and Manage Radio Show and Podcast are still ringing in my mind.

Frank Gustafson is the Principal of Sandler Training by Strategic Training Partners in Fort Worth. He has more than 35 years of experience in sales, leadership and entrepreneurship. Having served as a non-commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps, Frank cuts right to the point. I asked him how you can improve the sales process.

His answer: just make it boring and predictable.

Spend your time and energy on the front end developing a process, instead of spending countless hours on the back end wondering why nothing seems to work.

Gustafson says the biggest problem most CEOs or Sales Managers have is they are trying to fix problems rather than coaching their team. Building and managing a sales team is about building a process that is scalable. It’s about working smarter, not harder.

Instilling a process is about creating a playbook for your sales team. Have a common language used across the board. Teach your team not only how to sell your product, but how to record and track prospects, call backs, closes and fulfillment. That is where a good Client Relationship Management (or CRM) tool comes into play.

Frank adds that you should always be recruiting your next salesperson. Build your bench of qualified team members. One of our clients makes every salesperson work as an Executive Assistant for one year before making them a salesperson. Crazy idea, but they sell millions in sales every year because they have a process for training new team members. I should add that that client’s CEO just retired and left the business to his son-in-law. Having a good process means one day you can walk away and still enjoy a steady stream of revenue.

Finally, recognize your sales team’s personal goals. Understanding what the people who are selling for you want to accomplish in life will help you coach them to success. If a team member wants to pay for her kids’ college, map out a plan for how many sales calls she has to make to earn the kind of commission checks to pay for tuition cost. When your team can visualize their future, they are more motivated to close business.

The good news is, there are people like Frank Gustafson who can help you build a boring and predictable sales process. You can find him online at stp.sandler.com.

Scott Miller is the CEO of Centerpost Media and host of the Create, Build and Manage Radio Show and Podcast. You can find Scott on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter via “@scottmillerceo.” Centerpost Media is a marketing agency with a vision to help every business they encounter with their media needs by providing outstanding quality, service and value. Centerpost Media is the parent company to BizTV, BizTalkRadio, BizTalkPodcasts and Bizvod.