What is smooth selling? Think of the successful America’s Cup yachting team as the metaphor.
The history and prestige associated with the America’s Cup attracts the world’s top yacht designers, sailors, and crews. In addition, the race could not happen without the involvement of wealthy sponsors and partners. It is a test not only of sailing skill and boat design, but also of fund-raising and management skills.
What it takes to win the America’s Cup yacht race can readily be likened to winning in sales.
Assess. The first step is to assess. In sailing you have to assess if you have the right technology and people. Yacht design and finding the right sailors is a constantly evolving science. In business you have to assess the four critical areas of sales operations: strategy, methodology, performance metrics, and people.
Design. In yachting next comes boat and sail design. That might mean a twelve-meter yacht, a ninety-foot multihull yacht, or a wingsail catamaran. In business the second step is to design the right sales plan: sales strategy, sales enablement/support systems, and people. Different challenges call for different sales approaches. For instance, do you need a sales team of hunters or farmers or both?
Deploy. A third step is to deploy. The America’s Cup sailors are some of the best trained athletes in the world. Before the sailing races begin there has been rigorous training and preparation. In business the third step is to deploy the sales team and support systems. They need to know what the strategy is and what is expected of them to win.
Execute. Finally comes the execution. Yacht races are not won on paper, they are won in the water. While technology and strategy are important, the yacht captain must get the most from the crew in order to win. To succeed in business, the execution of the sales plan must be properly managed. The goal is to ensure the sales plan is executed as effectively as possible and that the sales team adopts the necessary sales processes and reporting systems. Like in sailing, this calls for leadership.
When it all comes together, that is smooth selling. I know because I have seen it happen time and time again.
Smooth Selling Forever enables small and mid-size business leaders to generate significant, predictable, and sustainable sales growth. Based in the science of selling, when applied correctly and managed vigilantly, smooth selling produces revenue results in a systematic fashion.
