Time is precious, and managing the clock is definitely important in the sales office. But what is more crucial to an effective sale, spending time finding new leads, or investing time and energy to advance existing prospects?
It’s good to have a strong lead base, but there’s no quick fix to prospects who aren’t ready to move. In the traditional, transaction-based process, emphasis is put on finding more leads rather than focusing on the decision-making process of individual prospects. Once a lead goes “cold,” it’s time to move on to the next person and hope they are ready to close the deal. But is this really a better use of time?
Not in Prospect-Centered Selling. Sales counselors don’t emphasize the number of calls made or new leads received. The process instead focuses on selling behaviors, including ones where the sales counselor can engage in better fact-finding (discovery) and trust-building conversations, over the phone or in person.
Prospects won’t settle for a rushed sales experience, so why should sales counselors? This is your time to build better relationships and to show them you are willing to invest in them before they decide to invest in your community.
Another article notes that “Salespeople who slow down each sales conversation end up spending more time with each prospect. Now, when relationships are so important to sales success, having a higher quantity and quality of time with each customer is going to result in higher sales.”
While it may seem inefficient from an old-school-sales standpoint, spending more time getting discovery and building relationships with prospects is one of the key behaviors (others include team planning and developing creative follow-up) that lead to higher sales ratios and better sales results.
