Most entrepreneurs should slow down their sales processes, rather than speeding them up. What do I mean? That seems counterintuitive.

• How often have you tried to move from one call to a proposal?

• Did you send the proposal without another appointment?

• How much can you learn in one thirty-minute phone call?

• Did you ever hear from that prospect again?

Your time is valuable, but taking the time to fully understand the prospect is time you will never regret. Your sales process is itself a differentiator.

When I started out selling last year, I quickly realized that after one call, I still knew next to nothing about the prospect. Although I hadn't seen it mentioned anywhere, I introduced my own "pre-proposal" document to the sales process. I call it a "statement of understanding".

The purpose is simply to document the understanding I thought I took from the call, and to create a shared space for you and the prospect to discuss their needs and next steps.

This document does not contain resource information, and it does not contain pricing.

It contains only the why, and the what.

I find more often than not, I have to rewrite this document once or twice before the prospect is also happy with it, and we have narrowed down to the area of highest need.

Hopefully this helps some new sales reps on their journey.