After all, as one results-minded VP of Sales put it, "All we really want to do is sell more stuff!" And that is the point.
But top producing sales individuals, teams and successful organizations get there today by doing what the best have always done but with special attention to a new level of detail. A twist, if you will - a cognitive variation on a focused theme that today makes all the difference between success and mediocrity.
It involves the actions in and around P3, which is highlighted in my recent article The 4 P's of Enterprise Selling. It's about the quality of sales engagement, for the rep and prospect. I call it Opportunity Engagement - engaging qualification, probing and presentation of ideas. In fact, this is your father's sales process, only now you've got to do it better than he was ever required.
The Next Sales Generation
I literally do talk about this stuff with my children. I have 2 top-producing sons actively working for top tier sales organizations. They have been the recipients of sought-after sales advice and unsolicited Dad-lectures on sales process clarity, messaging nuance, probing discovery, qualification scorecards, activity metrics, forecast accuracy, motivational mindset, partner relationships and sundry other keys to sales effectiveness. Between weekly conference calls, breakfasts or lunches, I teach and preach sales best-practices and see great results with them and clients.
But a pattern has emerged in this modern era. If not a process makeover, I'm seeing the need for a refocus in the area of Opportunity Engagement; that is, those early sales cycle calls or meetings where ideas, agendas, needs and information collide.