For Your Quota’s Sake, Stay On Your Early Stage Opportunities
As salespeople, we are always wanting to close a deal. Coffee is for closers after all, right? We want to make a call and close a sale right then and there. Even if the call only results in a small sale, it’s enough to make our day and give us that immediate gratification.
But too many salespeople get so focused on only trying to close deals. Instead, they should be focusing their time and energy across their whole pipeline — which means cultivating early stage opportunities.
Early Stage Prospects Are Ripe With Opportunity
When we come across the deal that is early in the buying cycle, it is easy to shrug them off because they aren’t ready to buy. This is a fatal mistake many salespeople make.
Instead of looking at early stage deals as a burden, look at them as an opportunity.
Early stage buyers are often much less set on what they want to buy. Many are still in the research phase. This puts you in a perfect position to educate them about multiple products and services that you offer.
More importantly, you can follow the model proposed by Matthew Dixon in The Challenger Sale. According to Dixon: When you have that additional time, it allows you to build a vision of how your product or service drives value for the customer.
Finding the value also drives the sale.
How To Stay Focused On Early Stage Opportunities
One of the biggest problems is that salespeople forget about their early stage prospects at the end of the quarter. Someone says they aren’t ready to buy and the salesperson moves on and focuses on someone else in the buying mode.
The key is to stay focused on all your prospects, regardless of the stage. The only way to do this is to build a system (or to use the Spiro’s sales automation CRM to help).
First, make sure you have a contact database that tracks all of your current opportunities in all stages of the sale. Second, make it a habit of checking in on that list of opportunities every single week. Block off a time on your calendar, have your assistant remind you (wouldn’t that be nice!), or do something that ensures that you take this time to check in on your prospects every single week.
Checking in with those early stage prospects every week is key to staying on top of mind and being there to close the sale when they are ready.
Build A Relationship That Lasts For Life
When you take the time to invest into these early stage relationships, you help someone go through the entire buying cycle. Throughout this you are able to build a relationship and trust with them. This trust grows and when the time to buy has come around, you are the obvious choice.
When you take the time to really help someone got through the whole process, you often win more than just that first sale. You may win future sales and business from the buyer as well.
Pre-Sell Your Future Quota
When you focus on these early stage opportunities, you are setting yourself up for success down the line. Even though you may be struggling to hit quota this year, next year will be a breeze when these opportunities come through.
Great salespeople don’t just focus on closing the next deal. They are thinking big picture with their clients and cultivate relationships that take years to unfold.
The Bottom Line
It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle of closing deals at the end of the quarter to meet quota. Don’t let your hustle distract you from focusing on those early stage opportunities which may be the key to your future success as a salesperson.
Create a system and stay focused on those early stage opportunities. Getting organized with your sales system is key to a successful sales career.
Photos courtesy of Flickr user Diego Sevilla Ruiz.
