I have just returned from a Triathlon training weekend in Kilkee, Co. Clare organised by Limerick Tri club - Thanks Brian and Steve for a great tough weekend. During the last session of the weekend - a 10Km run I got thinking about the parallels between Selling and a Triathlon event.
The standard “Olympic” distance Triathlon consists of a 1500m swim, a 40km cycle and a 10km run. The challenge is to complete all three events in as fast a time as possible. Another critical element of getting a good time is perfecting the transition from swim to bike (T1) and from bike to run (T2). The top competitors in the world can do both transitions in less than a minute. It takes me over 3 minutes.
So there are 5 elements of a triathlon - swim – T1 - bike – T2 - run.
Like a triathlon, an effective sales process has 5 stages.
The first stage is pre-sales planning. This is the swim in Triathlon. Swimming is the most technical of the disciplines, it is the one that most people find difficult and generally do not give the time it needs. If you neglect your swimming, you will waste huge amounts of time and energy that will impact on the rest of your event.
The second stage of the sales process is working to a structured and disciplined process which should be recorded in your sales plan. This would equate to T1 in the Triathlon where every second counts. You have to be very clear what you are going to do and in what order. You need to rehearse and practise and then make sure you stick to this plan come race day. You can’t afford to get distracted and you have to stay focused on getting on your bike as quickly as possible.
The third stage of the sales process is the “Pitch” where you are face to face with the prospect or on the telephone. In triathlon, this is the longest piece of the event by far. It is where if done right, you can make up significant ground on your competition and if not done well, you will find other competitors flying past you. You need to stay focused on your outcomes, you need to trust in your process and you need to be open to make changes should the need arise.
The forth stage of the sales process is; Handling objections and closing the sale. This equates to T2 in the Triathlon where competitors go from bike to run. Speed is really critical here again and like T1, the only way you will get good at this is if you are prepared and have practised. There are many reasons why prospects raise objections at the end of a sale and there is a mountain of information on the internet on how you can address each of these. It isn’t rocket science either however if you haven’t done the research you won’t be able to get past this stage. Assuming you have addressed all the prospects objections, you still need to ask for the sale or at least get a “call to action” out of your conversation. A call to action might be another meeting, providing some more information, or submitting a formal proposal. Not getting a “call to action” at the end of a sale is like quitting and giving up in T2.
The final and often forgotten stage of the sales process is the “follow up”. Businesses are built on relationships. The better the relationship you can build with your customers, the more viable your business will be. It is much easier to sell to an existing customer and it is to find new customers so this is critical. The fifth and final stage of a triathlon is the run. At this stage you are exhausted, your legs feel like they are detached from your body, your energy is dropping but it is the time for make or break. Every good tri-athlete knows that that you have to conserve some energy for the run if you are going to get a result. The less experienced competitors will be passed on this stage mainly because they haven’t kept some energy in reserve for the finish.
There you have it, a comparison between the sales process and triathlon. One final thought; They can both be great fun, there is no getting away from the hard work needed to get a result but the reward when you cross the finish line or close the sales is fantastic.