Selling with Simplicity

I grew up playing competitive golf - in middle school, high school, and then in college where we were the #3 ranked Division III team in the country. I loved the game and everything about it. Over breaks in school, I worked at a retail store selling golf equipment - I was completely in my element, and sold a whole lot of equipment as a result. It was my first taste of earning a commission check, and I liked it.

I remember one of the other salespeople coming up to me one day asking for some suggestions on how he could sell more, because he saw I was having so much success. I told him I was surprised to hear that, because I didn’t realize I was selling so much compared to everyone else. All I was doing was striking up rapport with people who walk into the store to help them get over their hesitation to talk to a salesperson, and then asking them what they were looking for and making some suggestions. I didn’t feel like I was selling - I was just helping.

This other salesperson was shocked - because it really was that simple. It was time for him to get out of his own way, and just start helping people. And it worked.

I often observe that when a salesperson or sales team is struggling, that they are massively overcomplicating things. Some of my greatest aha moments - whether from a mentor or reading something - were really quite simple concepts.

Here are observations and a STOP / START doing list so that companies and sellers can embrace what I call... Selling with Simplicity. I label it that because so often when I teach someone these concepts they'll say "Jeez, that's so simple."

STOP pursuing the wrong customers

START by building your ideal customer profile so that the marketing dollars and selling time you spend is focused on who is mostly likely to buy at the right price points. Focusing on the right profile customers will get you higher value projects, at higher margins, at higher close rates, and are more pleasant and interesting to work with. As the old saying goes... fish where the fish are.

STOP wasting time on projects that aren’t going to close

START qualifying with tenacity early on so that you aren't wasting your time, or the clients time, on an opportunity that just isn't a good fit. I can't tell you the number of times I sat on a discovery call and could predict this deal will never happen, or is a lock. Start spending your time where you are most likely to win, win quickly, and where your company is viewed as most valuable.

STOP justifying to yourself that being busy means you're doing the best you can

START making a deliberate plan for how you're going to win. Could be as simple as a daily goal of spending 1 hour prospecting. Or reverse engineering your annual sales goal to identify how many clients or projects you need to win, how many opportunities you need to identify each month, and how many client conversations you need to have each day. Build a plan - and do it.

STOP ignoring the voice in your head that's telling you there's risk

START embracing a little bit of paranoia for why you may lose a sale, and have a high sense of urgency to combat and overcome that risk. You'll be surprised how often you're right and you'll stop looking back after losing and say, "Dang it, I knew that might happen." Trust yourself.

STOP thinking that leaning on others is a weakness

START pulling in people who know different parts of your business better than you do, or would make the customer feel more comfortable. Take advantage of big titles in your company and pull them into a client call, or draft an email you want them to send. An all star quarterback may have immense talent, but he can't win all by himself.

Selling successfully doesn't have to be complicated. You connect with customers, learn their challenges or goals, share your expertise and stories of success, and close a sale because it makes sense for the customer. Sure there are nuances within all of this, and this doesn’t mean selling is easy - but far too often we lose sight of the fundamentals.