I get many calls and emails asking for help – and that’s good!  One of the things I’ve observed over the years is that most salespeople, when they’re struggling some, don’t know why they’re struggling.  I thought that today I would share my simple formula for helping salespeople discover where in their selling process the problem is hiding.

First let’s assign generic names to various parts of the Baseline Selling process.

Getting to 1st Base
Getting through to a Decision Maker
Getting them interested
Getting an appointment
Setting Expectations for the 1st Appointment

Getting to 2nd Base
Getting them engaged
Building a relationship
Asking great questions
Finding the compelling reasons that would cause them to buy
Differentiating yourself from your competition
Quantifying the cost of their problem

Getting to 3rd Base
Qualifying the Prospect
Qualifying yourself and your company

Running Home
Presenting your Solution
Selling Value

Scoring
Closing

The first task in self-coaching is to identify your single biggest bottleneck.  Which of the 15 items listed above is where you’re having the biggest problem?  Why? Is it lack of skill or is there a weakness or fear that’s getting in the way?  Very often, it’s not the skill but the weakness that is causing the problem.  For example, Need for Approval is one weaknesses that affects salespeople through almost every phase of the selling process while Non-Supportive Buy Cycle causes problems on the way to 3rd Base and when Scoring. What are you doing to solve the problem?  Have you asked for help? Have you read a book or watched a video on the issue? Have you attended a seminar or a webinar on the issue? Have you observed someone who is better than you?  Have you had someone observe you?  Have you role-played it?   Have you practiced it?

I promise that if you follow the steps outlined above, you’ll quickly get past the issue you identified and find yourself with a brand new issue from the list.  That’s what happens when you get to a new place – you’ll have new challenges.  Just repeat the process and things will quickly improve.