We know they’re out there. Like the Chupacabra, there have been frequent sightings of the mythic creature, the “natural-born salesperson”.

I’m not saying I believe or I don’t believe in any of the above, but I can tell you that even the sales professional whose brilliance with closing deals outshines the others has a chink in the armor. The personality profile of a highly successful salesperson doesn’t usually include traits like “multi-tasker” and “detail-oriented”, but these are key components in the sales process.

Yes, they’re confident, they don’t fear rejection, and they are persuasive communicators. But they still need to have a process to manage the details—the preparation, presentation, follow-up and the follow-through.

When you invest the time it takes to create these systems, you make it easier to excel. This part of selling doesn’t come naturally to many sales professionals, and I often get a funny look—and glazed-over eyes—when I mention “systems”. Think about it though. Without a process, how do you handle follow-up with your prospects? Is it a timely process that kicks in automatically or do you have to keep reminding yourself? When you’re unprepared, you compromise your success. You waste time reinventing the wheel with each effort, because you’ve failed to utilize the ease of a sales process that keeps the details organized and addressed.

I’ve worked with hundreds of successful sales people and I’ve seen how they adhere to a well-oiled process for everything from preparation to follow-through. They’ve created a system for each step that occurs consistently in the sales process. These sales professionals have their emails written and ready to personalize. They follow a pre-planned process after every presentation. They never miss an opportunity to jump-start a dormant buyer because there’s a system to spark that effort.

Do you know how you can tell the people who have developed this process? They’re the ones who make it look so darn easy.

How do you approach every step in your sales process? What can be prepared and replicated to save time later?

There are plenty of myths out there about successful selling, but a well-planned and executed sales process isn’t one of them.