When is the last time you took a stroll through the ol’ sales attic? As we mentioned in a previous article, you should think of your sales attic as a culmination of how your team sells today. When prospects say no, they go on up to the sales attic – then it is your duty to crawl through and uncover the mysteries of why.
There are gems in the attic
Take a look at these 7 reasons to chat with prospects and uncover the mysteries hidden in the attic:
- You get to talk to your prospect community! Climbing through the attic means you (as an owner, sales manager or executive) get to talk to prospects.
- It increases revenue. Talking to prospects who were in your sales process and bowed out means you will invariably get to rekindle some deals that your team lost. Miscommunications happen, things fall through the cracks and misunderstandings occur. When a prospect gets a call from someone in a perceived place of power, it feels good. It makes them feel special. People like to do business with people that make them feel special. You can expect about 30% of your lost opportunities to open back up again to the idea of doing business with you. Look at last month’s lost opportunities and multiply by 30% – what would that extra revenue have done to your revenue numbers last month?
- It increases your closing rates. Prospects, especially those that bought from your competitors, are great market intelligence. By talking with them, you’ll get some key insights into how your competitors won business from you. This allows you to better position against them in the future to win more deals.
- It gives you clarity on why you lose. Sure your salesperson said it was because of “price”. But maybe after that call you’ll find out the prospect was frustrated because the salesperson never asked them their budget, and ultimately gave them a kitchen they couldn’t afford. Understanding why you lose (and where in the process it went sideways) is crucial to shoring up holes in how you sell.
- It’s rewarding and fun. Learning is fun, especially when you learn things about your company, your products and services and your team. It’s a great chance to reflect and think about things differently. Customers put you in a very small box. You may find out you’re not communicating all the things you offer very well. Sometimes a prospect’s insight or two is just what the doctor ordered, so you can improve your operation. Think of it as your little college research project, except that your findings directly affect your business, it’s growth and its overall health.
- It’s detoxifying. It’s absolutely, horrendously frustrating to fight all day, all night and all weekend only to realize you’re swimming upstream. But when you uncover some new findings about things you may be doing wrong (or could be doing better), it’s like a brand new day where the sun is shining and the birds are chirping again.
- It tightens up your branding and messaging. Talking to prospects allows you to see what message they are receiving from your marketing efforts. I bet you’ll be surprised on the differences between what you think you’re saying and what they’re actually hearing…
As you look over those seven reasons, you have to admit – there’s really no reason to not go through the sales attic. Take a look and get back to us to let us know what you found.