Ever wondered what creates the "clank clank clank" sound as a roller coaster is being pulled to the top of the first hill?
It comes from a piece of safety metal under the car called the anti-rollback device—ARD—or "chain dog."
As the car is pulled up, the ARD slides over the metal "teeth" under the track that are angled in such a way to allow the ARD to slide up and over but not backward.
That way, if the chain that pulls the car up breaks, the car will be locked into place exactly where it is, thereby saving the lives of the passengers.
(Being the skilled researcher and artist that I am, I made a picture to illustrate this just for you. Pretty good, huh? I'll be making signed, limited editions available for your local museum. Stand by for updates.)
What is your ARD for sales?
But, Wes...ahhh...what do you mean? Are you saying I need a sales safety dog?"
Roller coasters run the entire length of the track on the momentum that is created AT THE START of the ride.
Like a roller coaster ride, every successful sale requires a specific amount of energy in order to carry you through to the end.
You can focus on pre-planning and pre-framing to start well and use that massive potential energy to enable you to cruise with predictability and ease to the finish, or you can start quickly and be prepared to exert an unknown—and possibly impossible—amount of energy in order to try and make the sale.
Huge potential energy is stored once the roller coaster reaches its highest point soon after leaving the safety of the boarding area.
But there's risk in climbing to such a high point, which is why the "chain dog" was invented. This eliminates the risk of going backward.
Most salespeople are competent at generating sales "activities" by expending huge amounts of energy, but they do it with no safety mechanisms in place.
Understanding this and perfecting it in my own life and then teaching it to others has been my life's work, and it will take more than a few emails and blog posts to explain, which is why I created the Make Every Sale course.
But here's the beginning of what you'll learn...
Every sale follows a process.
Maybe it's three steps or five steps, or 25 steps, but there is a process.
In the illustration above, I map out many common steps:
- Dis-qualify your prospect
- Verify their pain
- Agree to the agenda
- Confirm compatibility
- Demonstrate capability
- Agree to pricing
- Order
- Deliver
- WOW
This sales process sits within the larger framework I call The A.B.C.D.E. Sales & Marketing System™, which stands for:
- Attract
- Bond
- Convert
- Deliver
- Endear
It looks like this:
And within that framework is my B.E.T.R.™ Prospecting System, which stands for:
- Bonding
- Empathy
- Trust
- Rapport
(Then there's my speaking and presenting the framework, which is also quite deliberate, and I share it with my private clients if you are looking to grow via that world.)
The sale—any and every sale—can stall at any stage, which robs you of the momentum you need to make more sales and to make them faster, and this is vital for a few reasons:
- Money loves speed
- Time kills deals
- A confused mind says no
Most salespeople are winging it, which means you are bouncing around going from stage 1 to stage 5, 2 to 4, or making the sale and skipping the vital after-order steps, etc.
Sometimes it works out. You get the order and think it's because of your magical skills, talent, and charisma.
More often, you get shot down, even on those "for sure deals," and blame it on the prospect instead of your aggression, short-cut-taking, and lack of planning.
By jumping around and skipping ahead to more advanced stages "to save time" or "because it felt right" before you secure each stage in the proper, sequential order is like going up that roller coaster hill with no "chain dog" and assuming/hoping the cable will never break.
Today, this week, this month, and for the next year, take the time to analyze not only what you do to make a sale but
- how you do it,
- the steps you take,
- the wins,
- the losses,
- what you say,
- how you engage,
- the percentage of questions you ask vs. statements you make...
If you can measure it, you can improve it.
But it's tough to read the label from inside the bottle, which is why you would benefit from a little private sales & business coaching. It's what made the difference in my professional life, which made a difference in my personal life.
Market like you mean it.
Now go sell something.
*Roller coaster image attribution: Jérémy-Günther-Heinz Jähnick / Walibi Belgium - Kondaa (A31) / Wikimedia Commons
