Very rarely does a sale simply fall into your lap. Sales is a process that requires patience, time and follow-up as you build long-term relationships with prospects. And if your company protects those relationships, you will be rewarded with a predictable pipeline moving forward. Caryn Kopp is the Chief Door Opener at Kopp Consulting, known for helping her clients secure initial meetings with high-level decision-makers at top-tier companies like Pfizer, GE, Merck, Time Warner, Target, and CBS, among many others. Kopp’s team of experienced senior business developers assist clients in finding the right prospects, and then they follow the sales team through the process. Kopp Consulting is recognized on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest growing private firms in the country. Kopp is a best-selling author and nationally recognized speaker who has appeared in Inc., Fortune Magazine, Forbes and Newsweek. She has been named one of the Top 25 NJ Leading Women Entrepreneurs as well as Enterprising Woman of the Year. Kopp is passionate about helping business leaders understand the blind spots in the sales process and offering critical strategies for getting Business Development right. Today she shares the details of her Door Opener service, how to overcome objections, and the importance of understanding your sales cycle. Listen and learn to create a culture where follow-up is valued and to develop a predictable pipeline.   Key Interview Takeaways Ensure that your messaging doesn’t suck. Differentiate your marketing copy (which is meant for the masses) from your sales copy (which speaks to a single person), and use the right language to move prospects from awareness to action. Anticipate objections and know the answers. For example, if your prospect already has a contract in your area, find out when the contract review period happens and whether the company is happy with their current provider. Understand ‘sales cyclenomics.’ A true sales cycle involves a series of conversations with a number of stakeholders, and that takes time. If you don’t really know the length of your sales cycle, everything you judge your metrics against may be incorrect. 98% of salespeople give up before the sales cycle has run its course. A sales team must protect their pipeline by thinking strategically and maintaining relationships-in-progress. Create a culture where follow-up is valued. If your company only compensates salespeople for meeting a quota at the end of Q1, that doesn’t lend itself to building long-term relationships. And you need long-term relationships to build a predictable pipeline moving forward. Kopp Consulting’s Door Opener Service helps companies develop the right messaging to get the tough doors open. A senior level business developer then watches how the salespeople carry the ball from that initial meeting through the process, and report any issues they may uncover along the way. Connect with Caryn Kopp Kopp Consulting Kopp Consulting Blog Resources Biz Dev Done Right: Demystifying the Sales Process and Achieving the Results You Want by Caryn Kopp and Carl Gould The Path to the Cash Manual by Caryn Kopp