At the end of most of my sales workshops, I always ask the group to determine their next steps following the learning they’ve just enjoyed. Experience tells me that if I don’t, many of them won’t take the action steps needed to put the learnings into practice. I’ve been known to photograph them with their action plans, and email these to them a few weeks’ later as a gentle memory jog.
Do you do this for your customers and clients?
If you’re involved in a B2B long sales processes, it’s vital to join up the selling meetings and the best way is to formulate an action plan at the end. This could be some homework on their part, something for you to action, and an agreement for the next step in the process and the purpose.
Simple really but many of us don’t do it.
If you’re in B2C sales and you have a few meetings to get to the close, then agree an action plan verbally at the end of each meeting which would include something for the customer to do, maybe a shopping list. Plus what you’ll cover at the next meeting or phone conversation you have.
It kinda joins everything up and makes it very easy to continue the sales process.
If you’re waiting a response from the client, i.e. a commitment to proceed, and that’s how you leave the meeting, then don’t. Instead let them know that you’ll phone them on such and such a time on such and such a date to get their decision.
That way you are in control and can phone them.
Never finish a sales meeting without an agreed action plan.
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