A Simple 3-Step Plan for Selling Success

While we can’t cover every aspect of selling in three simple steps, these are the critical ones. These 3 steps are the glue that holds the selling process together and they are repeatedly deployed throughout the sales cycle.

Whenever I think of salespeople who I have interacted with as a customer, the really good ones all share these qualities. My insurance guy, Bruce, comes to mind. Still, there aren’t many good ones which means that … you have a tremendous opportunity to really stand out, stand above your competitors.

Step #1 – Respond

How simple does it get?! When a client, or a potential client, contacts you they either have a question or a problem or maybe they even want to give you money. Speaking for myself, when I reach out to someone and they don’t respond in a reasonable amount of time (4 hours maximum, 2 is better) … I’m thinking bad things like …

Did they see the message?
Are they struggling for an answer? Is my problem even worse than I expected?
When should I follow-up again?
Are they still employed?
Am I being ghosted?

And, when a customer has negative thoughts, or their mind wanders … it’s never good for you! You may not pay now, but you will pay later. Should you respond to every message?

As a general rule, I would say yes. I regularly update my clients with new pieces of information and never hear anything back. Not a thank you or even a f you. Did they see my message? Did they reject it?

Step #2 – Set Expectations

If you do not set reasonable expectations such as what will happen next and when, I can guarantee you that your customer will. Even worse, their expectations will most likely be unrealistic. My background is the electric sign industry and very few people are aware of what it takes to bring a signage project to completion.

Even if they do, there is no way that they can be aware of current lead times based on workload and material availability. If I’m thinking two months, they are probably thinking two weeks, seems reasonable to them, and now we have troubles. Big ones.

You will be happily proceeding along with your process and your customer will be thinking … “What the hell is going on!?” At the end of every meeting, every exchange, you must set expectations for what happens next and when. Period.

Step #3 – Exceed Expectations

The first rule for exceeding expectations is to set expectations that you know you can exceed. For example, if you can get something back to the customer easily within one week, the expectation that you will set is two weeks. You will be seen as a hero! Without Step #2 there can be no Step #3.

In my almost 50 years of B2B selling, I can tell you that it is very rare for a customer to push back on any expectation that I have set. Occasionally, you will come up against a hard time requirement, but those are the exception rather than the rule.

Budget might be another exception, but that might also be a condition. They flat out don’t have the dollars needed to proceed. Of course, this should be a part of the qualifying process and that is a topic for another day.

As far as that goes, at least 50% of these hard benchmarks will magically disappear when it comes time to conclude the sale. “I thought that you said you needed it … now!? You know what I mean since you have been there, done that.

As a final note, these steps apply to all areas of your personal and professional lives. Team members. Significant others. Everybody has expectations. Will you be able to exceed them?

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Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!