MAKE SALES FUNNELS REVIEWS YOUR CRYSTAL BALL

Strong sales managers know how to conduct sales funnel sessions.  Weak sales managers tend to make the review of sales funnels an accounting exercise.  Worse yet, less than competent sales managers have used sales funnels as whipping tools on the lower quartile performers.  I have watched sadistic exercises with sales funnels: seeing if the salespeople can answer every single unsuspecting question on line items within the sales funnels.

Handled professionally, reviewing sales funnels can be the best sales coaching opportunity of the week.  The trick is to make sure that the questions per line item are limited and consistently expected by salespeople.  Also, make sure the questions are those that will tell you, clearly, whether progress is being made on the individual accounts.  Finally, the sales funnels should provide very clear maps of the next events to be conducted.

Obviously, sales managers need accounting mechanisms to track and forecast sales.  Sales funnels, as coaching opportunities, should focus on account development.  Trying to pull together complete sales forecasts from sales funnels reviews defeats the purpose.

Reviewing sales funnels has one primary purpose: collaboration for the purpose of coaching salespeople on the critical elements of sales campaign management.  An effective approach is to structure your sales funnels form around the seven most important questions regarding the progress of each item in your sales funnels.  At the very beginning of each sales campaign, those seven questions get attention.  As each week passes and progress is made on the specific line items of the sales funnels, the questions are narrowed down to a limited number, and the process requires less time.  And there are no surprise questions for the salespeople.  In Closing the Whales, I devote a full chapter to those issues that must converge in order to close the sale.  You will see that philosophy in the sales funnels I have designed.  I will be happy to send you an example, but here are the seven questions:

1. Do we know the client’s buying process and the three most important decision-makers?

2. Have we earned their trust and confidence?

3. Has an attractive, compelling and differentiating value proposition been developed?

4. Are there any timing issues?

5. Are there any financial issues needing resolution?

6. Do we have a prepared inside coach who is proactive?

7. What is the next event to be executed?

Learn to use the sales funnel for coaching. Get your copy of Closing the Whales today!