Hear
it from the Marines
I attended a football game recently where the Marine Corps had a recruiting booth set up outside the stadium. I asked them about their Sales Cycle. They told me:
· A recruiting sales cycle usually lasted from one to five visits.
· Ten visits means they are wasting your time but they might come back later
· Recruiting officers is different than recruiting enlisted. Seniors and grad students are better candidates because they need a job. Underclassmen take more effort as they still feeling their way around.
Very interesting! Ten visits usually DOES mean they are wasting your me! Some people just like having guests and getting a free lunch. This is a good transition to the next topic:
What Vasko is reading
Neil Rackham’s SPIN Selling is a neat book. Rackham discusses the idea that Sales Managers often feel a constant pressure to CLOSE. Of course that is important stuff, but Rackham’s research makes a differentiation. On small sales this emphasis is well-founded. On large sales this emphasis can be deadly as savvy buyers are simply not ready to close on a big purchase on the first or second visit. It is a good read!
AFS and Marketing
Be sure to attend the 2014 Marketing & Selling of Castings Conference on December 10-11, 2014, at The Westin O’Hare in Rosemont, IL. Check it out here.