The Sales Archaeologist

OK let's stay with World war two this week and get some lessons from another interesting event. Operation market Garden was an attempt to speed up the conclusion of the war by having paratroopers dropped behind the Rhine and then a thrusting attack through Holland would provide support and eventually meet up with the airborne groups. It was daring and complex but the desired goal of getting home by Christmas blinded everyone to the obstacles and ultimately the entire operation was a failure.

Sometimes as sales professionals we attempt to speed up the process and shorten the cycle - that is fine but all too often those attempts fail to consider the obstacles, are built around a faulty system or cannot be executed.

Look at some of the issues that historians cite for the failure of Market Garden and see if you notice any similarity to what can happen when your people or you try to close too early or speed up a faulty sales process.

• The plans for Market Garden fell into the hands of the Germans and they knew every move before it was made - do your prospects know your selling system better that your reps?
• The operation relied heavily on air support but the weather was awful and therefore the technology was useless - does your system depend on an elaborate demo or features and benefits of the technology? what happens when they don't like you or competitors raise doubts, that presentation becomes useless?
• They underestimated the enemy - do I even need to explain this one?
• The operation was too complex and didn't allow for changes - does your sales system flow naturally? Are the questions and conversations you have with prospects and extension of who they are or are they forced, awkward or canned?

Bottom line - Shortening a sales cycle is a great idea. Speeding up a close is wonderful. But, the process you are using has to support it.