The major problem facing sales professionals today is an extended and unpredictable sales cycle. As I explained above, it’s a vicious cycle that ends in last minute decisions, often with your competition the winner of your sale. Here are a few ways to avoid and or deal with the sales cycle.

• Take the sales cycle seriously. Of course there are going to be exceptions, but they are not the rule. Everyone looks for ‘ripe fruit’ – the prospective client who must make a buying decision now – but that’s the exception and it’s mostly the result of luck not sales skills.

Although there are the lucky sales, they should never be thought of as the norm. The extended sales cycle is the standard working environment for all sales professionals.

• Connect with what counts. Relationships are critical to be sure, but because of the Internet, buyers are much better informed and they can spot incompetence much more quickly. Customers know when someone is just trying to sell them something. The other side of blowing smoke is being blown away by a potential client who demands knowledge and expertise from their suppliers and are willing to settle for nothing less.

The goal is to impress the prospective client with what you know, not where you take them to lunch.

• Focus on the potential client. Even though the question seems basic to sales, but sales professionals rarely ask: “What do you want to accomplish?” And, even if it is asked, they almost always come across in a less then genuine way. As if the salesperson is really only interested in getting the answer and moving on to his or her presentation.

Finding out what the potential client wants is one of the keys to the sale. How can you give a meaningful, powerful and compelling presentation if you have not taken into consideration what the potential client wants to accomplish?

The test is how the potential client feels after the presentation. Was the focus on what the sales professional wanted to get across or was it on obtaining the necessary information to make an informed proposal?

• Patient follows through. The anxious sales professional says “I need sales now!” Well, who doesn’t? But the questions miss the essential issue. What sale professionals need are customers and customers don’t come quickly. Rather, they occur over time, by patience.

Those salespeople who say they need to make a sale are letting the cat out of the bag. They are telling the world that they haven’t identified the need of the potential client or cultivated a relationship with that prospect.

These salespeople are like the hunters of big game, they want to be driven, in a Hummer, to the exact spot where the animals gather, shoot them, bag them, then be driven back to the lodge to ‘tell their big game adventure.’ That isn’t hunting and it isn’t sales. Both require careful planning and massive amounts of persistence and extraordinary patience.

• Communicate competence. Some sales professionals like to talk about their products or services are innovative, cutting edge and far above the competition. Potential clients prefer to see a salesperson that is innovative and cutting edge.

A marketing consultant was asked to prepare a brochure. He asked the client: “Why do you want a brochure and what are you going to do with it?” By digging deeper, the consultant found that the company’s sales force was actually looking for help with prospecting and the thing that came to mind was a brochure. Needless to say, the brochure was scraped and a prospecting program was implemented.

Another key to making sales is coming up with the right solutions to the right problems.

• Plan for the long-term. ‘Making numbers’ is a Damocles sward over every salespersons head. Translation, it means, the urgency of the immediate demands total attention. Today, that is something that never changes.

The solution is to identify, carefully cultivate and manage a substantial number of prospective clients over the long-term. The more precise and efficient you are with this process, the greater the flow of sales you will enjoy.

• Counsel the customer. The president of an insurance company called a salesperson in and wanted her to help them promote a new business initiative. After working on it for a month, she less than enthusiastic about the assignment. She asked herself, “Why do I feel this way?” The answer was easy; the president was clearly interested in only selling the product. The shortcut to success ended in a short circuit for the operation.

The sales task is to covet the customer relationship more than the order. The privilege of being able to provide helpful, valuable assistance to a customer is what creates sales.

• Stay on track. Staying on track is another key to long-term sales success. It’s easy to fall prey to the latest quick fix sales gimmick and when that fails, find another one.

The answer is to stay on track, stay with sound principles and understanding the sales environment. Focusing on the prospects, communicating your competence, planning for long-term and being the customer’s trusted advisor are some of the ways you can stay out of the sales cycle that can turn the best salespeople into desperate salespeople.

“The better your relationships the shorter your sales cycle and the more money you will make.” Dan Brent Burt