We get a lot of gratifying compliments about our first book, “Action Selling ®: How to Sell Like a Professional, Even If You Think You Are One.” But one that we hear over and over comes from readers who are struck by the way the Action Selling ® system functions as a sort of navigational aid for the sales process.
To describe what they mean, these readers use terms like “road map,” and “step-by-step,” and “instruction manual.” What they’re getting at, I think, is that the book describes what selling can look and feel like when you follow an approach that won’t let you get lost. No matter how many detours you might encounter, you always know what to do next – and how to get back on the right road.
What if you were never lost?
This self-guidance feature operates throughout the 9 Acts of the Action Selling ® system. For example, consider Act 1, the Commitment Objective. This is an action you want the customer to agree to take – some “next step” that will keep the sales process moving forward, creating momentum. A foundation block of Action Selling ® is that you must have a Commitment Objective for every sales call.
But what if your Commitment Objective turns out to be unrealistic? Suppose your Commitment Objective was to gain the customer’s agreement to buy, but you discover during the call that this customer doesn’t have final purchasing authority?
Now what? Has the system failed you? Are you lost in uncharted waters?
No. You have simply received a signal that your Commitment Objective for this call needs to change. Given the unexpected circumstance, what is the next logical step the customer could take to keep the sales process moving forward? What’s your new Commitment Objective – right here, right now? Action Selling ® will guide you.
Or suppose you are presenting your solution in Act 6, and the customer says, “We can’t justify that until our business improves.” Do you accept this, walk away, and wait for a government stimulus package to bail you out? No, Action Selling ® gives you clear directions: Return to Act 3, Ask the Best Questions, and then follow the proven method to use what you hear to resolve the customer’s concern and gain the business.
Regardless of the twists and turns a sales process might take, you will never wind up in a blind alley, with no idea how to proceed. “What do I do now?” Action Selling ® always has the right answer.
Action Selling ® In Action
How do Action Selling ® practitioners describe the system’s self-correcting features? Melanie Legace, a regional account manager for dental-instruments supplier Hu-Friedy, puts it this way:
“Action Selling ® is like a global positioning system, a GPS to guide you through the sales process. If you get lost, you know right where to go to get back on track. It gives me comfort that even though a sale might steer me down a new street – or situation – I trust that the GPS will get me to my destination.”
Discover a GPS for your sales process. Contact us to make sales training pay huge dividends.