When I was young, I spent a lot of time at the beach about 10 miles from where I lived.

There was a sand dune, likely 100 feet from shore, that as teenagers we would swim out to.

The depth of the water around the dune was about 10 feet, so if you weren’t a strong swimmer, you didn’t attempt it.

Several years ago, water depths had dropped significantly, and you could literally wade out to the dune.

As the water dropped, obstacles like sharp rocks, crawfish and seaweed suddenly presented themselves, so although wading was now possible, most people didn’t attempt it.

When sales are strong, everything seems easier, and obstacles don’t present a challenge.

Lost deals or rejected quotes aren’t a big deal.

A burdensome sales process isn’t a problem because you don’t have the capacity anyway.

Poor sales team performance is tolerable.

But strong sales don’t last forever. Just think back to what happened in February 2020, when the world began to shut down.

Regardless of how strong you may (or may not) have ended 2020, there was a tenuous moment for everyone early in the year.

It’s for this reason that waiting until things “slow down” to identify and make improvements in your sales process means you’ll make bad decisions.

You’ll be rushing to identify where the real problems are.

Decisions will be made quickly, without fully weighing the pros and cons.

Any software you purchase will likely be at a premium, as you scramble to improve sales.

Duress doesn’t make for good decisions; it makes for bad ones. The kind that you’ll work to adapt to for years, until you finally acknowledge the decision was a bad one.

Time to Make Improvements.

Think about it this way.

When you feel good, you don’t skip your annual physical with the doctor; you keep going to ensure you continue to feel good.

When your car’s running well, you don’t skip servicing it at the dealer; you take it in for a check to keep it running and on the road.

Why, then, would you ever wait to review and identify how to improve and accelerate your sales?

It’s the reason I created my Forensic Sales Audit — a rapid assessment with minimal disruption that confirms exactly what weaknesses exist in your sales process and exactly what to do to improve and accelerate your sales.

For this week’s exercise I thought I’d share a few of the questions from the assessment, to help you consider where you might need to make improvements.

This Week’s Exercise>>>

1. What are the greatest weaknesses in your current sales process?
2. What changes would speed up your sales process?
3. What technology could enable your team to sell more effectively?

© Shawn Casemore 2021. All Rights Reserved.