What does slow mean?

When salespeople tell me that ‘it’s slow’…I have to take a breath and get to neutral so that I don’t react. 😀 Why is that?

Because most salespeople who complain about traffic aren’t using the actual data as their complaint. They might be using one day of traffic against the same day a week earlier or another anecdotal comparison that is not based in fact. And even if it IS factual, now what?

My standard response to “It’s slow…” is something like, “I get that you have some concerns about the traffic. Can you tell me what you are doing with the traffic you ARE getting? Has your close ratio or average sale increased with the additional time you get to spend with your opportunities?” NOT the desired response and yet, it’s accurate because traffic needs to be counted in order to have a real conversation about it.

If I ask one salesperson “How’s traffic?” and they saw 3 people, closed two, and scheduled the other one, they think traffic is good. If I ask another salesperson “How’s traffic?” and they saw 5 people, closed one, scheduled one, and walked three, they think traffic is awful – in terms of quality and quantity. Neither answered with a number but rather with what they did with it.

Figure out how many contacts you need to see/meet each month – at your current close ratio and average sale. If the number of incoming contacts that you get to work with is less than that number, you need to go and fill that gap, since the door and the marketing and the marketplace aren’t providing it for you.

And consider this as good news rather than something dreadful, as it will improve your skills and make you less reliant on something over which you have NO control.

Now, go create your OWN traffic!

oxo,
Jody