Opinion: IT sales stimulus package

As you work with clients you will uncover their pains and goals - and create new products and services to address them. If you let your competitors do that then in a few years, your firm will struggle be relevant as the business world turns and you're left behind.

There are 5 stages that every successful firm learns to master. They may give them different terms, I like to use:

1 - The Initial Introduction

2 - The Suspicious Suspect

3 - The Perfect Prospect                                 

4 - The Optimised Opportunity

5 - The Customer Close

I think the names help clarify the mindset, possibilities and challenges in moving from one to another.

You'll not be surprised to learn that there are two further stages that the top performers methodically use:

6 - The Loyal Client

7 - The Ambassador

Take a moment to consider your own system of winning new business. Do you teach it to new employees? Can you train someone with the aptitude and attitude? Are they selling successful within 3 months?

The tools, techniques and tactics used during each stage are different.

You won't turn up a sales meeting to introduce yourself with a marketing flyer or brochure, would you?

If your potential client doesn't know the basics about what you do - then your marketing is mis-firing.

But what is worse is that your sales person is wasting your money by visiting leads that are not qualified.

Your sales person is not there to introduce your firm. That is the role of marketing.

She is hopefully meeting to learn what your firm needs to know and do in order to win business.

You'll win business by show how your firm can make a difference in your prospect's business.

After all, if your sales team cannot return with a definite opportunity to help - then they are wasting energy.

The preparation, travel and meeting time was better invested in remote introductions and early qualification.

You might be hoping that a business development strategy is your way out of a sales black hole - it isn't.

Hopefully, your business doesn't need an extreme make over - and what you are offering is fundamentally of value.

With all the best will - you can't work miracles - certainly not overnight. You need to invest time in your plan to make it pay off.

You'll need to work with your prospects as they struggle to understand what they need, why they need it, how much it will cost them, how to justify it, what are the risks and how to minimise them.

For the CFO - find out how much return on investment will it deliver? How quickly will it pay for itself?

They'll want to be reassured that what you offer is timely, relevant and achievable. Once your sales funnel is being filled with new leads then you can nurture them through your sales pipeline.

When they finally emerge, your strategy is working.

Within 60-120 days, you'll be rewarded with sales that more predictable and profitable.

You'll also have established the system to continually grow your firm that you can delegate.

Now you're free to work on the next strategy - out-smarting your competition and delighting your clients.