The legendary Wyatt Earp coined the phrase ‘Learn to take your time in a hurry’ and for a gunslinger, that is darn good advice. There are more than a few comparisons to sales that a gunslinger can teach us. So before we go out and shoot the whole CRM database up and then wonder what to do with it, let’s see how these techniques can help us:
1. Timing has to be on your side
It’s amazing how every gun fight seemed to be at a specific time on a specific day, usually high noon if are to believe Hollywood. But it makes sense that we establish a firm time for action and not just a soft appointment time.
Depending on your task and what you have to do, make sure you and your client know what time is needed. Nobody’s got any time, so plan it right, and lay out exactly what you have to get done, where and when.
2. Pick your target carefully
If you’re carrying a big shotgun then you might have a little more leeway. I agree that the shotgun is seductive, mostly to sales managers, but rarely is it beneficial. The reality is that most of us are selling to a specific audience and with limited projectiles like budget and time.
3. Superlative sense of timing
There’s more than a little déjà vu here: being at the right place at the right time is always an advantage and an absolute necessity if you are going to thrive every month.
When it comes to pulling the ‘closing’ trigger on your customer, too early and you might miss, too late and someone else has taken you out of the picture. Pay attention to timing. Don’t let your manager or outside pressures unduly influence what you know to be good timing.There’s nothing much sadder than sales personnel who are forced to pull the closing shot way too early i.e. even before the customer has been adequately targeted. You see this a lot when quotas aren’t realized or anxious managers take the shot gun approach. Be wary of this.
4. Don’t hesitate
When the stars and the moon all line up, don’t frig around. If you’ve called the showdown or your customer called it, go for it. If you don’t, well then don’t be surprised if you’re asked to hang up your guns and move on down the road.
5. Be prepared for anything, including the posse
What if you miss or everything backfires on you? Are you prepared for these events? You should be because the first couple of shots, like rapid fire proposals, can often go astray and things can backfire on you.
The point here is you should be at the showdown with more than one bullet in your gun. Heck, go with more than one gun! Often the extra gun e.g. your VP or other significant player can have a really intimidating and beneficial effect. Just when you thought you had it all worked out with a single target, along comes the customer’s posse. Make sure you have your own posse on call. Sometimes it’s better to show up with a group of supporters rather than being the lone gunslinger.
MosaicCRM Experts Corner
Timing is the single biggest issue and it affects everything you and your client do next. With this extreme level of importance, start by adding definitive ‘timing’ periods and qualifications to your sales process.
- From Qualification to Close, each step of the process deserves careful timing scrutiny. Power through the client qualification stage and you miss real opportunities. Hang on for dear life to a feeble ‘call me’ response and you never progress.
- The Sales Stage is a good place to start. Each stage or gate in the pipeline should have a definitive time that is pre-agreed with your customer e.g. a suitable time that is relative to your specific situation e.g. 5 days. This technique focuses you and your client mainly because no real pipeline opportunity or client will hang forever and ever.
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Written by
Bill Noonan, CEO MosaicCRM
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