Increasing Your Win Rate
Winning business is a complicated business, and there are so many different strands of advice that it is easy to be spoiled for choice. Getting a sale – whatever the nature of your business – rightly deserves a lot of attention. Did you know that the ‘win’ rate for most companies who submit proposals or pitches is only around 30%? For many companies, that means a big chunk of time spent preparing materials that are not going to get them anywhere. Because the fact of the matter is that ‘winning’ a sale frequently has nothing to do with the materials you prepare at all!
Most sales coaches would agree that there are some basic rules which everyone can stick to – all of which should have at least some positive impact upon your win rate. We have boiled these down into a few simple guidelines, below.
The 3-legged stool
Think of your sales potential as a simple 3-legged stool.
- The first leg represents your ability to resonate with your potential customer. We all have a need – they will, too. You must identify it and find a way to connect with them over it. This is like flicking the switch that will make them take notice: “this person speaks my language.”
- The second leg represents your ability to differentiate yourself from competitors. This need not be a major task – it could be down to personalities, previous experience, the way you tell your ‘story’… anything that makes you a bit different.
- The third leg represents substantiation. You must be liked and trusted, and you must be able to prove you can deliver what you have said you will deliver. This bit is about honesty and integrity.
Remember – if any of the ‘legs’ is missing, the stool (your sale) will fall over!
There are three more words that all of us would do well to remember – and they tie in really well to the stool analogy above:
Connect
Convince
Collaborate.
Work on these things, and there is no reason why your ‘win’ rate should not start to increase.
if you prefer you can listen to The Company Doctor talking about this topic clicking here
