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Defining a Sales Win
Blog / For Sales Pros / May 24, 2018 / Posted by Catherine Brinkman / 6961

Defining a Sales Win

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How Do You Define a Sales Win?

There are many ways to wins in sales. Often, the only ‘win’ that salespeople get credit for is when a deal closes. However, this mentality can be harmful. This kind of thinking is how salespeople get burnt out, get discouraged, or in some cases even quit.

Sales Process Steps

There are various steps to the sales process. The Sheryl Crow song “Everyday is a Winding Road” comes to mind, but instead titled “Every Sales Call is a Winding Road.” Every turn you make, consider that a win. If you didn’t get shoved off the road, or fall over the cliff, you are still in the race.

I have heard many people say that there is no sales process, as each prospect is unique. While yes, every opportunity is unique, there is a process that remains the same. You can call it whatever you want. A method, a pattern, or a roadmap. But the fact remains that there are ques to follow when selling to someone. You open the call, gather information, suggest ways to solve their problem, gain the prospects buy-in, and then go in for the ultimate win: the signing of the deal.

Inside Sales Wins

To break it down even further, there are many different jobs within sales. Inside sales and outside sales are some examples. Most people view inside sales as an easy job. The phone rings and the person on the other line tells you what they want, and how many they want to buy. The prevailing idea is that inside sales are just order-takers. There is a lot of truth to this: outside sales is to inside sales, as selling a prospect on value vs. answering product questions and getting an order.

Good inside salespeople are still able to ask the right questions and explain value. For them, a win could be keeping a call on the phone for more than five minutes. Another win may be asking six probing questions. Or, it could be that the potential customer decides to double their order based on the value they will receive when they use the product or service.

Outside Sales Wins

Outside salespeople need to view their wins differently, however. For example, it could be the number of meetings set in a week. An often overlooked success is merely determining key decision makers, and getting them into the room for a sales presentation. Most sales managers would consider their sales team having up to date notes in the CRM a win.

Cold Caller Wins

Then there are the unsung heroes of sales: The lead generators. AKA, the cold callers that hear “no” all day long. Their win could simply be hearing “yes, I would love a meeting.” Their win could also be to receive less than a certain number of no’s in one day. Some people may hate cold calling, so for them, a win could be making a certain amount of calls in one day.

Winding Road Leads to Sales Wins

These examples of sales wins are not a way to sugar coat the reality of sales. Being in sales isn’t about creating a haven. Instead, it is about having the correct mindset to see the wins when they present themselves. These examples are just a few ways that salespeople can reframe what success in sales may be.

Once salespeople see that their winding road will still get them to the finish line, they will be able to see the win. The more wins they can award themselves, the better their engagement level. When salespeople are engaged and making money, they analyze their successes and their losses more. Sales professionals learn to see that working in sales is a game and that as long as they learn from the failures, they win long term.

About Author

A former sales executive and trainer with Dale Carnegie, Catherine built a book of business focused on technology and finance companies. That experience is used with sales teams to design collaborative sales campaigns which improve closing ratios and hone sales skills. Catherine lives in NYC.

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