
Losing Berries Is
the Same as Losing Sales; Do We Really Have To Lose Them?

By Steve Martinez
My
wife was disappointed when she returned from the side yard. Her face
hung low and I knew she was pretty down. You see, I know the look. It is
the same look that salespeople have when they miss a sales opportunity
or lose a sale.
My wife, returned from the side yard with her empty
bowl. She was expecting to collect some juicy, vine ripened, black
berries. Unfortunately, her blackberries were either all dried out or
they weren’t ripe. She had missed the critical harvest time to achieve
the bounty she expected.
I have experienced the same loss in sales. If we are
not there when a customer is ripe for our services or product, we lose a
sale. We simply have to be around, checking the vines if we expect to
collect our bounty when the prospect is ripe.
Solving the Vine Ripening
Issue
A
sales system that keeps track of the sales process is what is needed.
When a customer tells us that they will be ready in a few weeks, months
or in a few years, we need to be there. If we want a selling advantage,
we should be checking back with them well before the suggested date they
gave us. During this waiting time period, we should be communicating
with them so they don’t forget about us. More often than not, their
timing is off and they ripen earlier than they expected.
If my wife had been checking on her black berries more
regularly, she would have enjoyed the taste she savored for. The same is
true for salespeople.
A good customer relationship system will allow you to
build reminder notices into it. It is a simple matter of exercising
these options. They really don’t take that long to do. Every sales
development program must have a system like this in place. The reality
of business sales is that most prospects aren’t ready to buy, when we
are ready to sell.
If we want to be there when the time is ripe, we must
follow a system. Too many salespeople expect their memories or good luck
to favor them. The only salespeople lucky enough to say, they are lucky,
are the ones with a sales system. Their secret is a system that reminds
them to keep going back to see the vines. Follow a system, systems work.
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Steve Martinez
President
Selling Magic, LLC
Toll free (877) 762-4423
Local call (951) 277-0080
www.sellingmagic.com
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