Going Green in Sales

By Roger Wentworth (Sandler Training) 

The word green in our society today has become a household term. The term green is used all across the globe as a reference to living in a way that is environmentally friendly by reducing waste, using less energy and minimizing our carbon footprint.  

So how can we go green in sales?  By minimizing the energy required to close business.  At the core of this concept is qualifying.  Qualifying at every step of the selling process minimizes waste allowing the process to stop when the minimum requirements of qualification are not met.  In other words, turn off the light and close the door, a scary concept for salespeople that are afraid to turn down business.  But in reality, they are not turning down business, they are working smart, going green. 

So, how does disqualifying create efficiency in the selling process?  As an example, a salesperson told me last week that she was at 95% of her annual goal at the end of June and that she had disqualified more people this year than ever before.

Think about it. Would you keep the car running all day just in case you wanted to drive somewhere?  Would you keep the lights on in the house all night in case you needed to get up?  No, that would be a crazy waste of energy.  So what happens when a salesperson continues to expend energy towards a prospect that’s not qualified?  First let’s define qualified.  Qualified means that the prospective customer has pain that you can solve and is committed to fixing it, a budget that fits your solution, and a decision process that’s fair and timely.

So, when a salesperson engages with a non-qualified prospect energy is wasted by the salesperson and often their internal support team, the estimators, engineers etc. Energy spent thinking about the non-opportunity, energy spent preparing an offering, energy spent following up time and again. 

But, beyond the energy wasted, the largest impact is lost opportunity because for every hour spent with a non qualified prospect, a qualified prospect is not being pursued. Efficient salespeople increase their close rate and overall sales because they know the value of their time and energy.

A typical salesperson can triple their close rate and double their sales working less hard than their counterparts by learning how to be efficient in qualifying prospects and only giving time to those that have earned it. 

So, why doesn’t every salesperson work efficiently.  One reason is they’re afraid to ask the tough questions.  They don’t know how to do it without seeming confrontational so they wimp out rather than risking the relationship.  The second reason is it’s easier to spend time on something you’ve already found verses finding something else more qualified which creates another apparent paradox. How do you prospect and try to create desire within a prospective customer while asking tough questions to disqualify them?  We’ll cover that the next time.