Hey there great salesperson, I know you are successful because you understand and use the 3-P approach to every sales call: Preparation, Practice and Performance. The 3-P approach gives salespeople the edge over the competition and leads to the sale. Whether it’s a one-call-close or a long sales cycle, use the 3-P’s at each customer contact.
Use The 3-P’s To Be Awesome!
Image from Pixabay
Preparation
Closing the sale begins at the beginning. And that’s doing the research about the industry, the company and the person you will be meeting. Decision makers want to know you have done the research. What problems would their company have which you have solved for others? How does the prospect make buying decisions? Who is the decision maker and what drives them? These are some of the basic questions to be answered in doing research before the sales meeting.
Practice
Great salespeople know practice is as important as preparation and performance in executing the 3-P’s. What does it mean to practice a sales meeting? First take what you have learned from the research and use it to craft how you think the meeting should go to achieve the goal set for the meeting. What are the key questions you need answered? Maybe you start broadly by asking the prospect to “paint the picture” of their situation. Then drill down asking more specific questions to understand the problem and how urgently they want to move. Also think about the personality of the decision maker. Match your approach to their communication style. When you practice how the meeting should go you are more likely to achieve your goal and increase the prospect’s respect for and trust in you.
Performance
It’s show time! The curtain rises and there you are great salesperson in the meeting with the prospect. You did the research. And you practiced for the meeting. Now you are center stage. Go for it! Whether it’s your first meeting or the meeting to close the deal, begin with building rapport and setting everyone at ease. If It’s one of many meetings in a long sales cycle, be sure to summarize the discussions to date. And confirm your recollections. Practice will have made you confident. Confidence in yourself allows the prospect to feel confident in you. So ask those open-ended questions. Confirm with close ended ones. Gather all the information you need to move the sale along. In my experience when you do all 3-P’s well, the close just happens.
What You Can Do Right Now About Preparation, Practice and Performance
- Decide what you want to achieve
- Determine what it takes to achieve it
- Dedicate yourself to Preparation, Practice and Performance to reach the goal
To learn more sales secrets see Chapter Eight, The Six-Step Sales Process, in Secrets of the Softer Side of Selling. For even more sales encouragement, join our FREE Sales Club! “See” you next week.
Good selling!
Don Crawford