Who should Summarize?

In the same way that sketching the room is a multi-purpose tool and skill, I assert that summarizing will be, too. And they both need to be practiced into second nature by everyone on the sales team.

The sales professional.
In the earlier posts, I itemized the situations that would benefit from summarizing. For the salesperson, this will be a skill to be practiced and to keep front of mind. It may need to be mentioned in the daily huddle – with some successes from the previous day and some variety as to how the tool was used effectively. It may be an alert on your phone to remind you! Maybe set a timer at 30 minutes when you start with a new opportunity. It’s likely that the first half-hour with a customer/client has been an exchange of quite a bit of information, and a recap now would be a welcome interjection.

And, like so many selling skills, this is also a communication skill. Consider how you can build your summarizing muscle by bringing it into personal interactions as part of your active listening with everyone in your life.

The sales manager.
You know that I see the sales manager role as a pivotal and key part of producing consistent results and elevating performance. And, like salespeople, there is a new level of skill to develop when a new skill is introduced to the sales managers.

This is a skill to keep alive and active. Watch and listen for it as an intentional action by the salespeople. And, when there is a sales interaction that has gone on too long without the appearance of wrapping it up (chatter versus business conversation), it’s a good time to step in and ask for a recap of where they are and what’s the next step today.

It will be an action that needs to be introduced to the sales team before it’s taken on the floor…and it will be as awkward at first for the sales manager as recapping is for the salesperson.

Now, go practice your recapping skills!
oxo,
Jody

Categories

0 comments

There are no comments yet. Be the first one to leave a comment!