By Terry Booton, President
Advanced Marketing Instruction

Do you know? Do your salespeople know? I bet your answer is yes. However, I challenge you to ask that question of each of your salespeople either one on one or ask each of them to write down for you during a sales meeting. My guess is, you will be very surprised at their answers.

As I travel the country working with sales teams. I ask that question and rarely get two people to give the same answer. Then I asked myself, how can this be? They each work for the same person selling the same product for the same company. Why do I get different answers? Why aren’t they all singing from the same hymnal. Why can I not get a consistent answer from all the salespeople? Can this be causing their company problems and costing the company sales?

The answer to the last question was yes and as a result, a new seminar was born. It has been one of my most requested facilitated programs. Let me share with you how this program works.

1. Start your meeting by asking your reps to write down what they are selling.

2. Review their answers.

3. If all the answers are not the same, you have just uncovered an opportunity to excel. This becomes the basis for establishing your sales and marketing strategy and an opportunity to define your competitive strategy.

4. Then take a close look at what your prospects and clients are buying. Is what they are buying the same as what you are selling? If not, then you have your work cut out for you.

5. Next look at the issues facing your prospects and clients and determine how your products and services address those issues.

6. Then look at your competitors. Evaluate their strengths and weaknesses and determine how to sell against them.

7. Evaluate your exclusives and how you sell against your weaknesses.

8. At the end of the day, you should all come out of the meeting singing out of the same hymnal with a consistent message along with a competitive strategy.

Copyrighted material reprinted with the permission of the Bureau of Business Practice, 125 Eugene O'Neill Drive,
Suite 103, New London, CT 06320. 800-876-9105

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