A Game Plan For Sales Success

Following a game plan is as critical to sales success as it is to winning in any sport. There isn’t a game that is played for fun or profit that isn’t first played and won in the mind. In other words, there is a specific and precise plan for victory that is planned, rehearsed and executed in order to deliver the intended result. Do you think that winning a baseball game, a basketball game, a soccer match, or even a football game is simply a matter of a bunch of players just showing up and doing their best? Winning is far from just showing up! Winning begins with an iron will, knowledge of the game, conditioning, practice and perfect execution of skills combined with precise obedience to a plan specifically designed to feature your strengths and conquer the opponents weaknesses. It is not by chance or luck that one team beats another team on any given day. It is a matter of who executes their game plan more precisely.

Selling successfully is no different than winning at sports. Every aspect of victory in a sporting event applies to selling and yet, how many sales people walk onto the field or court of sales total unprepared mentally, without the proper knowledge, out of shape, not having practiced their skills, with no game plan, blindly hoping to “land the sale”? As a salesperson do you really get it? Do you understand that successful salespeople aren’t successful just because they show up for the game? Success in sales, for those few salespeople who consistently perform at the top of the sales game, comes as the result of planning specifically what it will take to win a sale and then perfectly executing their game plan. If you believe that closing a sale is the result of just running out onto the playing field of sales and doing “stuff”, you couldn’t be more wrong!

Sales are made as the result of following a specific plan of action and executing that plan perfectly. What football coach would send his team onto the playing field without a game plan specifically designed to win the game if properly executed? What football team, basketball team, baseball team, etc., would compete without a coach to prepare them mentally and physically to execute their winning strategy? Jerry Sloan, Bronco Mendenhall and Kyle Whittingham would never put their teams on the basketball court or the football field without a game plan. Yet, every day salespeople walk onto the playing field of sales hoping to win without a game plan.

As a professional salesperson you need to prepare and follow a game plan specifically designed and executed for each prospect. Just as in the world of sports, where “scouts” report on the talents of opposing teams and players, salespeople need to “scout” their prospects through proper questioning. Sales people need to know the people they are selling. A game plan should include the following:

1. The nature of the business or individual (personality, products, market)
2. The decision maker and decision influencers
3. The specific needs they are looking to satisfy
4. Their budget and ability to pay
5. Their time frame for making the purchase
6. How are they meeting their need currently
7. Who is the current supplier
8. What do they like about your product or service
9. What concerns do they have
10. What are their objections
11. How will you continually emphasize what they like
12. What will you do to resolve their concerns
13. How will you overcome their objections
14. Who or what is your competition
15. What are your advantages and weaknesses
16. What are the advantages and weaknesses of the competition

All successful salespeople prepare and follow their game plan. They know that success in sales is the result of mentally winning the sale in their mind first and then physically executing their plan each time they meet with their prospects. Successful sales people don’t just do “stuff” hoping to win the sale, they know what to do because they have a game plan.