While having the appropriate mindset is an essential part of the sales process, so is having clear steps and direction. From first booking to meeting, through market education, showings, offer and final acceptance, it’s important to have a clear understanding of your process and to have that process so internalized that you don’t need to think about what comes next — you just know.
This level of understanding will allow you to seamlessly balance multiple clients with ease. To understand this, try the following exercise. Write a list of each of your clients. Now match them with where they are in your sales process.
You will likely have different clients at different points in the process. While it’s incredibly important to remember specific details about each individual client, from time to time, you might misremember things.
When this happens, it’s easy to get back on track, maintain your relationship and progress to the next step if you already know what that step is going to be, regardless of which client you’re speaking to.
Being able to adapt each client to a predetermined and deeply understood structure will allow you to operate more efficiently and with greater confidence — no matter the circumstances.
But what is particularly important about having a structured sales process right now is that it will allow you to adapt your business to our new, totally online world with more ease.
That is because, for each point in the sales process, you should also have a clear system for managing client needs and interactions as they move through that step.
This could mean anything from having a written and memorized script for presentations when onboarding a new client and managing client interactions through a CRM, to having a branded and ready-to-go buyer presentation form.
Having all of these things in place for when you’re conducting business in-person will allow you to be more organized and prepared to move that process to the digital space on Zoom, FaceTime, email, text and phone. Being organized and methodical will always facilitate communication and business.
If you didn’t have a process already in place before social distancing and quarantine recommendations went into place, you might find that you are struggling to adapt.
But the good news is that, if you’re currently experiencing a pause in business, the best thing you can do with your time is to apply yourself to creating a system for online operations. This will not only allow you to continue the sales process with your current clients online, it will also help you become an efficient broker when life and markets begin to return to normal.
An unexpected change in the world around us shouldn’t mean an unexpected change to how we conduct business. Having good systems in place is what keeps us moving forward while maintaining the kind of positive vision of the future that’s required for success.
Don’t let yourself be held back by current circumstances. Give yourself and your business an advantage by putting a sales process in place today.
Kathleen Black is the CEO of Kathleen Black Coaching and Consulting in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Connect with her on Instagram at @kathleenblackcoaching or through her website ItTakesa.Team.
