Sales is a science, but it’s also an art. It takes a good amount of skill and some creativity to succeed in sales. On one hand, sales reps have to have an analytical, logical approach to their work.

They must have the strength of numbers on their side when pitching new clients or expanding into new territories and markets. Except, that’s not really what makes people fall in love with a product or company.

There are plenty of great businesses with fantastic products that fail because of bad sales rather than a lack of great products with poor sales.

The best salespeople know how to balance these two things: The quantitative and the qualitative. This is why “artfully executed” is just as important as “science” when it comes to top-notch sales performance.

Defining the science and art of sales

The science of sales is the approach and processes used to close deals.

For example, a rep uses certain prospecting methods to get in touch with leads, asking them to set up meetings, send demos, and so on. This is the science of sales. So, too, is optimising the sales process and using data to craft a plan for new client acquisition.

The art of sales is the overall personality and character of the sales team.

This includes everything from the way reps speak to their communication styles and how well they get along with one another. The art of sales is also about how reps handle objections and deal with shifting market conditions.

What’s interesting is that not every industry has the same science and art of sales.

Building a pipeline

The science of sales starts with a sales process that ends with a closed deal.

As you build out your sales process, you want to include everything from prospecting to servicing existing customers.

That’s the only way you’ll be able to track your numbers and make adjustments when necessary.

You want to track your close rates by stage in the sales process, too. This will help you find areas that need improvement. Ideally, you want to have closed deals that are in the pipeline. This is where you have a prospect who has committed to buying your product or service in the future.

You don’t want to close every deal.

You want to close only the deals that will help your company advance. But, you do want to have a pipeline filled with prospects who are likely to become customers. How do you do this?

 Finding your voice

The art of sales includes how your sales reps sell and how they use language.

If you’re selling a product or service, you have to get inside your customers’ heads and find out what they need and their pain points.

So, if you’re trying to sell a home security system, you have to show you understand the pain of being a homeowner.

You have to show you understand the issues they have with keeping their homes secure. This is where the art of sales comes in. A great salesperson has a way of using language that resonates with customers.

They have a certain voice, a certain style that makes people want to listen. The best way to find your voice is to listen to other successful salespeople. Study how they pitch their product and what makes them unique.

Nurturing relationships with your leads

The best sales teams nurture relationships with prospective customers until they sign on the dotted line.

They maintain communication, even when deals are on hold or the contracts aren’t signed.

They proactively reach out to customers and prospects to see how things are going and how they can do better. This is when the art of sales comes into play. The best salespeople know how to interact with customers, regardless of whether they’re signing a contract or not.

They know when to communicate, what to communicate, and how to communicate. They also know when and how to get out of the way, too. This is why some top-notch sales teams have lower close rates but lots of repeat business. They’re not in your face, but they’re there when you need them.

Using data to find efficiencies and new opportunities

Data is king in sales. The best teams use data to craft sales forecasts, optimise their sales processes, and find efficiencies. They use data to see what types of customers they’re closing and find ways to get more prospects just like them.

• They track their open-to-close ratios to find areas for improvement.
• They know what percentage of prospects are agreeing to open a dialogue with the company.
• They know how many prospects are agreeing to a demo.
• They know who’s agreeing to what and when.

With this data, sales teams can identify ways to get more prospects to commit. For instance, if a certain percentage of prospects are always saying “no,” the data may indicate a sales rep is doing something wrong when asking for commitments.

The key is to not just look at the data. Use it to make adjustments to your sales process.

Wrapping up

By now, you should have a better sense of what it takes to succeed in sales.

You also should have a better understanding of the science and art of sales. The best sales teams have great relationships with their prospects.

• They’re able to sell without being aggressive.
• They have a strong knowledge of the product or service they’re selling.
• They know how to ask for commitments without being pushy.
• They know when to close deals and when to walk away.
• They know when they need to communicate with clients versus keep quiet.
• They know how to use data to find efficiencies and new opportunities.

Our mission here at the Predictable Success is to research and disseminate leading-edge practices and innovations in sales operations.

Predictable Success accesses a community in which we bring together B2B sales professionals to help navigate a rapidly changing world by sharpening sales skills, enhancing strategies and practices and providing a system for personal and professional growth so that sales people can make more money, be more respected, be more recognized, and more influential.

So we’re always learning about different approaches, new technologies, changes in focus and priorities, what’s working well right now, what’s not panning out anymore, and so on.

Other people can teach you to sell. We enable you to sell better!

These processes have worked with many of my clients for years and this systematic and disciplined approach has been a critical component to their success

The GOAL of every high-performance sales team should be to…… Proactively create the conditions where more deals, that are more profitable, with better customers, are the natural result.

This is achieved by engineering the overall sales process such that it reliably generates the desired outcomes as a matter of course.

 Predictable Success can examine your sales processes and deliver an accurate road-map after determining where you’re on track and where you need a course correction and can provide a cost/benefit analysis and expert recommendations to improve your sales performance on every level.