Written by Jim Holden, Founding Partner
In the world of competitive selling there are countless sales techniques, methods, processes, concepts, and tips that range across all aspects of sales. And, many of them are helpful, appropriate, and effective. But, at the end of the day, all of that depends on one single factor – focus!
If a seller is focused on an account that has little potential, or say an opportunity that will likely never come to fruition, or when pursuing a qualified opportunity, is focused on the wrong client individuals or the wrong client issues, all the techniques in the world won’t amount to much.
Even sales managers struggle with focus. Span of control with multiple sellers reporting to them provides an opportunity to drive significant sales within a district or region. But, it also doesn’t leave these managers with much time. They know that coaching sellers to compensate for sales performance weaknesses is part of the job, while at the same time helping them to see it as a developmental opportunity to grow and be successful. The problem is that there is generally never enough time to do the deep dives into sales opportunities that are required to ferret out a seller sales performance weakness, determine how it will impact the deal, and formulate a way of compensating for it so that the deal is won. Sure, the big opportunities get the focus and attention, but for the rest focusing on the right developmental opportunities can easily become an issue that drags down sales. Like life itself, sales focus is both a discipline and a skill.