{"id":1427,"date":"2019-02-25T04:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/top1.fm\/DailySalesTips\/?p=1427"},"modified":"2019-02-25T04:45:06","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T10:45:06","slug":"sales-tip-37-running-a-sales-process-like-a-project-manager-scott-ingram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/top1.fm\/DailySalesTips\/sales-tip-37-running-a-sales-process-like-a-project-manager-scott-ingram\/","title":{"rendered":"Sales Tip 37: Running a Sales Process like a Project Manager – Scott Ingram"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Scott<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s episode is from me and it\u2019s about tips on how to build a roadmap and a plan with your client so they can see the actual steps to success.<\/p>\n

Is this something you do, or could use?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Join the conversation at DailySales.Tips\/37<\/a> to talk about the relationship between sales process and project management.<\/p>\n

Sales Success Stories<\/a>
\nSales Success Stories Episode 62<\/a><\/p>\n

Transcript<\/h3>\n

Scott Ingram: You\u2019re listening to the Daily Sales Tips Podcast and I\u2019m your host, Scott Ingram. In Episode 62 of the Sales Success Stories<\/a> podcast we turned the tables and I was the interviewee instead of the interviewer. One of the things I talked about but didn\u2019t spend much time on was this idea of my essentially being a project manager in the way that I manage my sales cycles really seems to be resonating and a lot of people have reached out about it. So, I thought I\u2019d spend a few minutes to talk through it in more detail here. And if you want jump into that part of my conversation with Jeff Bajorek on Sales Success Stories<\/a>, pull up Episode 62<\/a> and skip to about the 67-minute mark.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get into this. If you\u2019ve ever built a close plan around a deal, you\u2019ve seen a bit of what this type of project plan might look like. Typically, in those scenarios you\u2019re identifying a compelling event or a start date with your client and working backwards to define all of the steps that are required to get there, and then defining dates and responsibilities throughout. In that document you\u2019ll identify things like legal and contract negotiations, the key meetings and presentations that will need to take place along the way, and all of the various stakeholder sign offs you\u2019ll need, things like that.<\/p>\n

In my model I actually take this a couple of steps further. Part of this is because I work for a professional services firm and this beyond the contract project work is really what I\u2019m selling, but this works just as well in other product or solution sales efforts, because it builds trust, removes risk and helps your client start to believe that the results you\u2019re promising are actually going to happen.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I mean. The way I think about sales, a signed contract is more of a starting line than it is a finish line. The real finish line is delivering on the results that your client is really signing up for. If you can work with them to build a roadmap with enough details and timelines to help your client actually see how they\u2019re going to get from here to there. You first establish a ton of trust because you\u2019re demonstrating that you know what you\u2019re doing and can show them the actual steps to success. It also takes a ton of risk out of their decision. Too often in sales we\u2019re asking someone to make this giant mental leap from contracting for a solution to end result without providing any clarity around how they actually get there.<\/p>\n

And I can virtually guarantee that your competitors aren\u2019t doing this. Why? Because it\u2019s hard! It requires a bunch of up-front work, but if you do it, your win rates are going to increase dramatically. Just make sure you do some really solid qualifying on the front end because you don\u2019t want to invest this level of effort in a deal that\u2019s not real.<\/p>\n

Although this also serves a great qualifier in itself. If you lay out this approach with your client and they\u2019re not willing to participate, it\u2019s very unlikely that you have a legit deal.<\/p>\n

So, if they do buy in, don\u2019t think that you have to do all of this yourself either. This is what team selling is all about. You may need to get aligned with your internal services organization, account management or client success teams or collaborate with an outside partner or potentially all of the above depending on the size and complexity of the opportunity.<\/p>\n

Ideally, you\u2019re building the plan with your client, and it needs to include details around who\u2019s responsible for what. Then your build a cadence of what are essentially project management calls with the core team to hold each other accountable.<\/p>\n

I just did an interview with someone yesterday who said he also does something similar and talked about how it\u2019s going to massively improve your forecast accuracy, because if you do it right everyone is agreeing to all of the dates when each piece is going to be complete and that includes your agreement and the traditional close.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s it in a nutshell, does this resonate? Is this something you do, or could use?<\/p>\n

Join the conversation at DailySales.Tips\/37<\/a> to talk about the relationship between sales process and project management.<\/p>\n

Then come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. I\u2019ll talk to you then.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s episode is from me and it\u2019s about tips on how to build a roadmap and a plan with your client so they can see the actual steps to success. Is this something you do, or could use? Join the conversation at DailySales.Tips\/37 to talk about the relationship between sales process and project management. Sales…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-daily-sales-tips","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nSales Tip 37: Running a Sales Process like a Project Manager - Scott Ingram - Daily Sales Tips<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/top1.fm\/DailySalesTips\/sales-tip-37-running-a-sales-process-like-a-project-manager-scott-ingram\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sales Tip 37: Running a Sales Process like a Project Manager - Scott Ingram - Daily Sales Tips\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today\u2019s episode is from me and it\u2019s about tips on how to build a roadmap and a plan with your client so they can see the actual steps to success. 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