Economic nor political storms are not good for business owners. And, 2020 has been a year for the record books.
Regardless of the outcome in the next month or two, white-collar professionals (attorneys, CPAs, dentists, plastic surgeons, insurance brokers, and real estate brokers) must stay focused with their eyes on growing their practices. Or, just give up.
Giving up and quitting on your practice is probably easier now then ever before! Clients with money are harder to find. People are more uncertain about the future than ever before. Your colleagues' businesses are taking Covid-19 lockdown hits just like your business.
I recall the behavior of my military Colonel back in my active duty days. Colonel Smith used to always order to us to review our operations manuals and training procedures to see if anything needs improvement from our last mission. On occasion, it's discovered only in the field that an application or process did not meet the expected outcome. Back in the unit, our team used to discuss how to remove mistakes, then train and train and train until the mistake was eliminated.
The same should be true for selling in less than ideal situations. Training always improves outcomes, especially in selling.
From a competitive advantage perspective, now is the perfect time for white-collar professionals to analyze sales systems and business development strategies. This article looks particularly at the sales system.
A sales system is defined as a series of predictable sales activities to move a contact to the client stage. These activities include contacting, prospecting, appointment setting and closing. A sales system fuels business development.
Our consulting firm's observations find that white-collar professionals business growth challenges are directly linked to not having a sales system.
Is a sales system difficult to create?
The answer is yes. It's yes because the white-collar professional has little to no experience is sales system design. The professional, while working in the business, does not have extra time to dedicate 8,000 hours to learn about and design a sales system.
Can a white-collar professional purchase a sales system in a box or off the shelf?
The answer is no. Sales systems must be installed by a sales scientist along side the white-collar professional and/or staff. The biggest challenge with implementing a sales system is working through the learning curve. Becoming proficient requires 1,000 to 1,600 hours of full-time selling. White-collar professionals do not have free time to install a sales system through trial and error. Most professionals are spending time fulfilling product or service orders. The selling and fulfilling components are totally separate activities.
Our consulting firm is advising all white-collar professionals to take action to include sales systems and elevate business development skills over the next couple of weeks and months.
Interested parties can contact me, Rick Nappier, CEO, at (833) 321-3212, or Yeilyn Rodriguez, VP, Business Development Specialist (bilingual) for English or Spanish contacts, at (786) 697-3400.
321 Biz Dev LLC offers 6-hour sales system training to help white-collar salespeople improve skills and increase business development efforts.
Business owners can also complete a 5-minute Questionnaire by clicking the Services tab on our website. Also, click the About and Podcast tabs to see and hear more about 321 Biz Dev LLC.
I hope readers enjoyed this article.
Rick, CEO
Yeilyn, VP