The Professional's Blueprint: Why Systems Lead to Sales Success

Ever wonder if top salespeople possess some magical quality you're missing? The truth might surprise you. Success in sales has nothing to do with being born with a special "sales gene" or having irresistible charisma. Instead, it's about adopting the right mindset, attitude, and discipline to learn and implement a professional sales process.

Think about it: doctors from every specialty follow the same basic process with patients. Professional athletes have consistent pre-performance routines. These professionals use systems because systems work—they prevent mistakes and dramatically increase success rates. The same principle applies to sales.

In this episode, Morris Sims breaks down the six essential steps of the professional sales process: the initial conversation where trust begins, discovery of what clients truly want and why, building tailored recommendations, presenting solutions without overwhelming detail, helping clients make decisions without pressure, and maintaining relationships for future opportunities. This system isn't about following a rigid script but about ensuring you cover all bases in a way that feels natural to you and helpful to your clients.

One common mistake many salespeople make is overwhelming prospects with unnecessary information. As Morris explains, "When somebody asks me what time it is, I don't go about telling them everything about the watch on my arm." Clients need enough information to make good decisions—not enough to become product experts themselves. By focusing on what truly matters to them, you make the buying process smoother and more comfortable.

Ready to transform your sales approach? Visit morrissimscom for more insights on finding your commission code to success. Whether you're feeling stuck on a plateau, overwhelmed by your workload, or noticing that previous strategies aren't working anymore, implementing this professional process could be the key to breaking through.

Chapters

• 0:00 Debunking Sales Magic Myths
• 2:20 Professional Sales Process Introduction
• 5:28 Why Systems Matter in Sales
• 9:06 Six Steps of Professional Sales
• 12:03 Presenting Without Overwhelming Clients
• 16:40 Closing Thoughts on Sales Success

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Sometimes, I think people believe that being a salesperson means that you're born with some kind of special sales gene that makes you great. Or maybe there's something magic that good salespeople conjure up when they want to make a sale. Maybe you have to have some kind of special charisma that makes people like you and then do whatever it is you suggest they do. Well, no, nope, there, no, nope. There's no magic. You're not born with it, and you don't have to be charismatic. Success in sales comes from having the right mindset, the right attitude and the discipline to learn and to use the professional sales process. Welcome to the Commission Code Podcast. We're here to help you overcome the challenges that most of us face in our business. From time to time, you know things like feeling like you're on a plateau and you just can't seem to grow your business. Or maybe feeling overwhelmed, just trying to make ends meet, and yet it seems like you're always working. Or maybe you've done quite well for a while, but now nothing seems to be working anymore. Well, we want to help you solve those problems and many more. Our objective is to provide you with practical solutions so you can grow your business and have more time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. My name is Morris Sims and I'm going to be your host for this show. I've spent years okay decades really in the corporate world teaching business owners how to increase their revenue and use professional sales processes and run their business more effectively and efficiently. I started my own consulting and training business about seven years ago, I guess and I'm helping my clients do just exactly that Get more revenue, increase their revenue and have more time to enjoy the fruits of their labor. But I got to tell you I'm having more fun than ever helping people build successful businesses. So, with all that said, let's get on with today's episode of the Commission Code for your Success.

Speaker 1: 2:20

At age 69, it sometimes feels like my wife Carla and I spend all our time going from one doctor's office to the next. It's incredible. A week goes by that, not a week goes by that we don't go see somebody somewhere. But I've noticed something about doctors from all different specialties they all do the same thing every time they walk in to see a patient. It never fails. The good ones do the same thing every time they walk in to see a patient. It never fails. The good ones do the same thing every time. It's the same process and it's the same process for all of them. It doesn't matter what specialty they're in. Yeah sure, the heart guy asked me all about my heart, the skin doctor asked me about my skin, the dentist, the GP but they all do the same thing. They start with pleasantries and then they ask the questions for their specialty, then they make recommendations and then they follow up. So why, why would they do that? Well, the answer is they're professionals and they go through the process because when they do, they don't miss anything and they have a 99% chance of being successful in helping their patient. Same thing is true for professional athletes they go through their process. It could be different from one athlete to the next, but they have a process they go through. I mean, watch a pro golfer before he tees off, he does the same thing every time he steps up there to aim and set his club properly every time. They all have a process. And so does a professional salesperson. One of the best professional salespeople I know approaches business owners the same way every time. He might get into it a little bit differently depending on the situation, but once he begins it's the same process, in fact. You know, come to think of it. I don't know any of the top professionals that don't use a process, and it's essentially the same thing every time they meet with a prospective client to talk about business.

Speaker 1: 4:32

Now, a process well, that could be called a system, and personally I kind of like that name system. One definition of a system is this orderliness, an organized manner. Another definition says and you got to be ready for this. You ready A group or combination of interdependent, interacting elements forming a collective entity. Methodical my definition is probably a lot less. My definition is probably a lot less well, a lot more simple.

Speaker 1: 5:06

A system is a process or procedure, when followed properly, allows for accuracy, consistency and, when done properly, a positive outcome. So why wouldn't a professional salesperson want to use a system? I mean, without a system, you run the risk of missing an important step that can keep you from getting to that positive outcome for you and your client. In my opinion, it only makes sense that a professional salesperson would use a proven system in their business. Now, my peanut gallery in the back.

Speaker 1: 5:41

They just said wait a minute, morris, I'm a professional and I want to be spontaneous. I don't need a system or a script telling me what to say or do I know what to say? Yep, you do. I got it. No doubt A seasoned, mature professional doesn't need a script to follow, and I would suggest that you probably created a system that you use and developed from years of experience. You probably had some wins and some losses along the way and that allowed you to hone your system, and now that just comes naturally. You don't even think about it. I bet you even use some of the same words and language most every time that you enter into a sales situation. And again, I'm betting you probably don't even notice it. You may not even consider it a system, but I promise you it is.

Speaker 1: 6:36

You can develop your system by trial and error, or you can study sales systems that have proven to be effective and then craft those to make them your own. That's what we teach in the Professional Sales course. We start with the critical steps in the process and demonstrate how it all comes together. Then you can take that process, use all those critical steps and make it fit your style and personality. The outcome is a sales system that includes all the important steps while allowing you to let your people skills and your charisma and your professionalism shine.

Speaker 1: 7:14

When you use the system, several things happen. First of all, you build that trusting relationship using words and language that make it easy for the prospective client to understand and follow your lead. It then allows you to discover the critical information you need to find out what they really want and what problem it is that they have that they need to solve. That puts you in a position to be able to craft the best set of recommendations that have the best chance of helping the client get what they want. Now presenting your recommendations is done again same way every time, because it's part of the system and it's focused on making it easy for the client to choose to buy your product or service. Then the professional makes it easy for the client to buy and move forward in the process. As I've said a lot in these podcasts, we love to buy, but we hate to be sold. The professional sales process just makes it easy for the client to choose to do business with you and this step simply helps them make a decision. The process then completes all the administrative details. You know the job's not done until the paperwork is done right. It allows you to get to the solution and get the product or the solution into the client's hands as quickly and as simply as possible. And finally, the process continues with following up and maintaining that trusting relationship, such that there'll be a whole lot more opportunities to help the client in the future, and opportunities as well for the client to recommend your services to others, and that leads to introductions and referrals, which are wonderful things. So with that overview of the professional sales system, let's get into some of the practical details.

Speaker 1: 9:07

There's six steps in the system. Step one is that initial conversation, sometimes it's called the approach. Step one is that initial conversation, sometimes it's called the approach. This is where you transition from a general getting-to-know-you conversation into the sales system. It's where you begin to build that trusting relationship by showing your authenticity and your sincerity. It's what my friend calls being the real deal and not something phony or put on.

Speaker 1: 9:37

Step two we call discovery. This is where you begin to lead the conversation into discovering what the prospective client wants. You're asking questions not in an interrogation style but in a conversational style what's the problem that they need you to help them solve and why? Once you get into this step, everything else that we do is going to depend on how well you go about learning about your client, how well you discover their wants and desires and why they want whatever it is that they want. That why is probably the most important part. Step three is building a recommendation that allows you to solve your client's problem and help them get what they want. Now, as you might imagine, it's all based on what you learned in discovery, but this is where your technical and product expertise comes into play. No matter what they may have learned on the internet or from their friendly AI system, you're going to shine here because you have knowledge and experience they can't get from 30 minutes on their computer. It just doesn't work.

Speaker 1: 10:50

Step four is presenting that recommendation or that set of recommendations. Step four is presenting that recommendation or that set of recommendations, and this presentation has to be concise and focused on the benefits to the prospective client. It's got to provide them with all the information they need to be able to make a positive decision for themselves or their business or their family. Now, where this step can break down is when we try and teach the client all the details and information that we know. It's like there's some thought out there that we've got to tell the client all we know so that they are experts on the product and the recommendation.

Speaker 1: 11:28

When somebody asks me what time it is, you know I don't go about telling them everything about the watch on my arm and how great it is and where it was made and how much it cost. They simply want to know what time it is right. Then, right there, standing wherever it is, we are Expanding about all the details. Well, you know, makes me feel good when I do that and it may make you look important, but it doesn't help you or the prospect in the sales process. So we have to present everything the prospective client needs to know to be able to make a good decision for them. They're not asking to be experts in our business. They trust and depend on us to know our product and our business. We need to be open and transparent about the benefits to them and anything else that they should know before they enter into this process of deciding. Am I suggesting that you withhold information that could be detrimental to your sale? Of course not. Honesty is the basis of the trust we formed. At the same time, they don't need to know, nor do they want to know, the size battery that my watch requires when they ask me what time it is.

Speaker 1: 12:46

For years in building training, we worked with subject matter experts, generally product managers, and those folks, let me tell you, they do know everything about our products. They know it all because they built the product from the ground up. But they kind of had the idea that our salespeople needed to know everything that they know. We had some very interesting disagreements when my team was given an 80-page, an 80-slide PowerPoint presentation and we were told that we had to use all of that in training our salespeople. Yeah, that didn't work for them. The fact is that salespeople need to know everything. They need to provide all the information a prospect needs to make a decision and the salesperson needs to be able to answer the big picture questions that a prospect might have. Salespeople don't need to be product managers. They do need to have the information to help the client and they should have connections to the absolute product experts just in case they have questions they can't answer.

Speaker 1: 13:53

For example, I just bought a hybrid automobile. Now I know the gist of how it works and what I needed to know to be able to make a decision to buy. I still don't know how to use all the buttons and the gizmos and the technology that that car has to offer. It's amazing. I think it would probably shine my shoes if I knew what right button to push. It was more than enough for me to know that the gizmos were there for me to make a decision, because I wanted to have all the gizmos. I didn't have to be an expert on that car to make a good decision and I'm still learning about it every time I get in the dead gum thing. Okay, it's probably all way too much on that topic, but the key is this don't get caught going down a rabbit hole of details that nobody really needs to know.

Speaker 1: 14:46

Step five in the process is helping the client make a decision. Decision now. We're all going to procrastinate when given the opportunity to do it. If you give me a chance to say I want to think about it, I probably will. As a professional. We've got to make it easy for the prospect to make a decision and move forward. Yes or no, either way, just make decision. That way we can move forward in the process to either go find another prospect to talk to or to help you get that particular product or service that you want.

Speaker 1: 15:19

Our job is just to make it easy on you and easy on ourselves, and one way to do that is to provide more than one recommendation and give the prospect a choice. All the recommendations are going to fill their desire and each one will have its own set of benefits. One may be more attractive to a client than another, but we allow them to choose. No pressure, no push, no manipulation. No pressure, no push, no manipulation. It's simply which one do you think is going to be best for your family or your business or whatever we're talking about? That's it. Which one do you think is going to be best for your family?

Speaker 1: 16:01

Step six is all about delivering the product or service and ensuring that the prospect is satisfied and then maintaining the relationship, that trusted relationship, so that they know that you're going to be there to help them the next time they need your service. Well, there you have it. That's the professional sales process in short, and it is vitally important to your success. In our course we'll get into all the details of each step and even suggest some words and language that you can begin with. Then you practice and make it your own. The process becomes the most important tool in your toolbox as a professional salesperson. Well, that does it for this episode of the Commission Code Podcast. This is the place where we want to help you find the commission code to success in your business. Remember, go to morrissimscom for more information and in the meantime, hey, have a great week, get out there and meet somebody new, and we'll see you again next time right here on the Commission Code. Best wishes, I'm Morris Sims.