“It’s not the cost of the sales you get; it’s the cost of the sales you don’t get.” This axiom of selling was drilled into me almost 30 years ago by an influential mentor and is as applicable today as it was then. Interestingly enough, many of the same challenges to implementation that were present 30 years ago are also still around.

Common sense dictates that every entrepreneurial manager needs to be concerned about the effectiveness of precious dollars devoted to the selling activity. Way too many do not have a clear definition of effectiveness and, even worse, have no system of evaluation. Consequently, any conversations regarding improving effectiveness lack the backbone needed for improvement.

Suffice it to say that when pressed, most definitions of selling effectiveness gravitate toward a concept of “improved closing.” Most of these improvements reside in the area of manipulative techniques with a smidgeon of needs and benefit analysis thrown in for good measure. As most professional sales people will attest, these manipulative techniques, while entertaining and apparently successful, generally only work in the training films in which they are presented. Once in the real world, professionals quickly understand that closing a sale is more dependent upon the quality of the “upstream” activities. It is when you start to understand and evaluate the effectiveness of these upstream activities that you really begin to hone in on increasing the effectiveness of selling time and dollars.

While many models have been designed for the steps that a customer goes through in making a purchase decision, by far the most common is the picture of a funnel. A number of prospects go into the top and a significantly fewer number of sales come out the bottom. Inside the funnel the professional salesperson connects specific selling activities to the decision process. The idea is to minimize any prospect from falling out or rendering a “no buy” decision. While recognizing the impossibility of this desire, a perfect selling world would look like a pipe instead of a funnel. Effectiveness in selling then becomes an ongoing process of trying to make a funnel look more like the pipe.

The key to this financially impacting metamorphosis is to understand clearly the intent of each selling activity in the process, measure the quantity of customers who continue to the next step and then try to figure out how to improve this flow through. This requires an initial clarity of objectives supported by a disciplined evaluation of outcomes. You are always trying to improve on getting the right message to the right person at the right time to enable the decision process to continue in your favor.

The biggest reservation today to implementing this process is the same as it was 30 years ago. This takes some time and a great deal of discipline, and there are a whole lot of things amateur salespeople and sales managers would rather be doing. But if you are serious about your profession from a sales or sales management perspective, then you will implement some system that allows you to measure and subsequently improve your selling effectiveness. If you do not or cannot, don’t waste your time and an employer’s money pursuing a career in professional sales that ultimately will never be successful.

John F. Riddell Jr., director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Growth-Hamilton County, writes each Tuesday about entrepreneurs and their impact on companies and the marketplace. Submit comments to his attention by writing to Business Editor John Vass Jr., Chattanooga Times Free Press, P.O. Box 1447, Chattanooga, TN 37401-1447, or by e-mailing him at business@timesfreepress.com

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