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Inspiration

Always be improving

hether you win or lose a sale, there is always • Was there a point at which the tone changed? Did the
room for improvement. But how do you merchant first seem interested but later backed off?
pinpoint how to do even better on your next • In hindsight, did I miss a closing opportunity or a
W call? One way is to ask yourself probing pain point?
questions.
• Was my approach the correct one for this merchant?
In Good Selling SM: The Basics, Paul H. Green suggested
merchant level salespeople (MLSs) ask themselves five In certain cases it's not a matter of win or lose. Some
questions after each appointment, whether deals are won merchants require long sales cycles that necessitate
or lost: follow-up phone calls or visits. But how do you maintain
1. Did you talk less than a quarter of the time? momentum without being annoying? In an April 14, 2017,
Sales Hacker blog post, John Barrows wrote, "It's a tough
2. Did you focus on results? question and varies based on the situation, but there
3. Did you find out what the prospect wants from are a few things you can do to increase your chances of
your type of service? maintaining an open communication flow, and decrease
the dreaded 'gone dark' scenario."
4. Did you find out how the prospect could benefit
from your service? He offered the following five tips:
5. Did you ask the most important question? Did you 1. Ask for guidance on the best way to follow up with
ask for the sale? them while adding value and not being annoying.

"No matter how your appointment ended, hit these points 2. Ask what their preferred form of communication is
and you'll have a better grasp of the merchant's needs and and if they will respond.
how you can position your service to fill those needs next 3. Make sure you always end each conversation with
time," Green wrote. a clearly defined next step.
4. Summarize your conversations and get written
Jeff Fortney expanded on this sage advice in "Perry Mason confirmation.
and the post mortem," The Green Sheet, Sept. 10, 2012,
issue 12:09:01. "First and foremost, a post mortem is not 5. Always have a specific reason to contact your
an effort to assign blame or fault," he wrote. "It is not an prospect. Never just call to touch base or check in.
effort to ridicule or to denigrate. It is not a tool to measure
failure, and it should not be an emotional process. Rather So remember, whether it has been a good day or a bad
it is an effort to identify areas of improvement, to track day for your sales efforts, you can ask questions that will
the effectiveness of different sales approaches, and to give you insights that will help prepare you to do an even
learn what should be repeated as well as what should be better job on your next call.
avoided."

Questions Fortney suggested for self-reflection included:
• Did I first identify if the merchant was a good fit or if
he or she needed my services?

Kate Gillespie, President and CEO
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