Putting in the Prep Work

Getting the Most Out of Bold Growth Strategies Sales & Leadership Program

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This past week I have been lucky enough to paint the inside of my house.  I suppose had we had a painter in one our networking teams that would have been much easier.  However, through some great advice, I learned a few things before I got started:  It’s all about the prep work and details.  So, I taped off the floor, caulked the trim, laid out tarps and painted the trim.  Then removed the tape and taped the top of the trim and caulk before painting the walls, and when I removed the tape it looked completely professional-ish.

Ultimately, I invested 75-80% of my time in prep work and clean-up and only about 20-25% in actual painting, and the end result was spectacular.  Mind you, there have been dozens of sloppy, non-professional attempts in the past where I just jumped in and started painting with a semi-steady hand and a wet cloth for cleanup.  I did little prep work, hoped for the best, and it usually turned out okay with little damage to the floor and furniture.  The prep work was everything!

This made me think about the sales process and most of the salespeople I meet.  Most are very talented sales professionals; however, far too many put more time and energy into prepping for painting, taking a family vacation, or Christmas than they do into preparing themselves for the sales process.  Often they just show up and wing it or rely on being a good guy or relationship person instead of having a well-refined sales process that they’ve prepared for and mastered.

What kind of prep should you put into mastering your sales craft?

What kind of prep should you put into each sales meeting?

9 Steps for Getting the Most out of Bold Growth Strategies Sales Training and Leadership Development

As a suggestion, identify the gaps in your process and start refining and improving.

  1. Review Entire Process
    1. Identify Gaps in your knowledge and Skills
    2. Define plan for gaining knowledge and skill
    3. 4 Traits Self-Assessment: Goals, Drive, Communication, and; Emotional Intelligence
  2. Write, Refine, and Review 84 Day Goals
    1. 90 Second Goal Setting
    2. Convert to BESMART goals
    3. Calculate Goals: Monthly Financial Obligation including goals, Pay Yourself First, and Taxes
  3. Convert Goals to Strategy-Refine every 84 Days
    1. Divide Monthly Income by Commission Per Client
    2. Develop Weekly Activity Plan to meet new prospects
    3. Share, Track, and be Accountable for your activity plan with a coach, mentor, or colleague.
  4. Clarify Ideal Client Persona / Avatar
  5. Craft AND Master 30 Second Commercial
    1. Possible Personal Emotional Needs your Ideal Prospects may have
    2. Practice, Practice, Practice
    3. Use 30 Second Commercial in marketing, advertising, meeting new people, sending emails, asking for referrals, and starting discovery conversations
  6. Study & Practice Communications- DISC, Learning Styles, and Transactional Analysis
    1. Take your own assessment and understand how it helps you and hurts you.
    2. Identify your blind spots.
    3. Learn from referrals and research and document after meeting a prospect
  7. Follow, Refine, and Master Bold Sales Process
    1. Get Referrals from your network
    2. Be disarmingly honest, I’m not sure if we can help or not.
    3. Build Authentic Rapport- Not fake compliments or seeking commonalities
    4. Craft bulletproof Mutually Agreed Agendas and Outcomes (M.A.A.O.s)
    5. Discovery
      1. Personal, Emotional Needs
      2. Resources (Time, Energy, and Money)
      3. Selection Process (Who, Who Else, and When)
        1. Must master Buffering or Lead In phrases for questions
          to maintain Authentic Rapport and get honest answers.
        2. Use Neutral (or Not), Negative, Clarifying, and Global
          Questions after Lead In phrases to uncover the root
          causes and motivations.
    6. Bold Presentation (Paint by Numbers)
      1. ONLY what was uncovered during Discovery
    7. 2 Question Close – On a Scale from 1 to 10
      1. 0-6 = No; Must have missed something in Discovery
      2. 7-10 = Yes; What would you like me to do
    8. After the close-what can unwind a successful close
      1. Prime Referral Engine
  8. Referral Engine Mastery
    1. Be Referable
    2. Circle of Trust – Be more specific to get more referrals
  9. LinkedIn Mastery
    1. Set-up your LinkedIn Profile for Success
    2. Make Meaningful Connections
    3. Take Connections offline for a Face to Face as quickly as possible

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