Learn Lean Sales: The 3 Types of Waste You Must Reduce
Time to change the way you think about selling. Learn how to close more deals faster. The world of sales holds no prizes for coming second. Lean thinking says waste is defined as anything that fails to add value to a business goal. For salespeople, there is nothing more disappointing than losing a deal at the final hurdle. Surely it is ‘better’ to learn about a lost deal at the beginning of a sales campaign rather than at the end.
When you analyze the steps taken and the amount of work done, you will find three elements of waste.
1. Waste of time. This is your most valuable resource. How much time have you wasted working on deals that you didn’t win? Everybody on this planet has the same amount of time each day, the difference is in how well you use it.
2. Waste of company resources. Here is a short list some of the valuable company resources used when you are chasing deals that you will not win:
- Pre-sales experts
- Subject matter experts
- Planning meetings
- Answering blind RFPs, etc.
- Preparing and giving uncalled for demos
- Entering endless detail into a CRM system
- Travel, hotels, meals etc.
- Reference visits to customer sites who are using the same product or services
3. Waste of Money. 1+2=3. Waste of time + waste of company resources = waste of money. Spending time on deals you aren’t going to win not only wastes money but also bears a cost of lost opportunities. It all adds up to an unnecessary cost of doing business.
Try this simple test, and the result will shock you. On a blank sheet of paper, draw a line dividing the paper into two columns: One column headed “VALUE ADDED WORK” and the other headed “NON VALUE-ADDED WORK” (WASTE). Note everything you do each day and how much time was spent doing it (both by you and your colleagues). Then, being honest with yourself, determine which column your value added work should go in. At the end of the week tally up the columns, I guarantee the result will shock you.
Before you can start to eliminate waste, you need to understand what kind of prospect you are dealing with.
Standby for the next installment “The 4 Kinds of Deal” Thanks for reading and please post your comments to my blog Learn Lean Sales, or follow me on Twitter: @learnleansales
David Shobrook
