progression [pruh-gresh-uhn] -noun 1. the act of progressing; forward or onward movement.  2. a passing successively from one member of a series to the next; succession; sequence.

Remember that model train you had as a kid? Or do you remember someone that had one? Maybe you still have one that has now become a life-long hobby!

I remember my model train vividly. The base was a 4′ x 8′ sheet of plywood with green, textured “grass” paper stretched over it and stapled underneath. The track was a basic oval, kind of like a race track, with a wooden, covered bridge along the back of the railway. It also had a couple of stops that the train made during its travels. One was to dump a load of timber and the other to pick up some barrels of oil.

But what I remember most was that all of the cars were very different from each other. Lined up between the engine and the caboose were box cars, flat bed cars, tankers, cars with removable side rails and one with a functional crane on it. They were all different colors and of various lengths. But as different as they were, they all had one thing in common – they all linked together and relied on that link to accomplish the journey from beginning to end.

Being in sales, or owning a small business, is very much like putting a train together. You start with the engine and one-by-one add another car and another car until you get to the end and finally link up the caboose.

You, as the sales rep or business owner, are the engine. You drive everything that goes into your sales process. You are the first person that your customers and prospects see as you are coming down the track. The caboose is the delivery and payment on the product or service that you provide. All of the cars in between represent everything that happens along the way during your sales process.

Before looking closer at this sales analogy, let me ask you another question. Have you ever been caught at a rail road crossing waiting for a train to pass, wondering how long it is, both in length of the train and length of your wait? You get a little anxious and a little frustrated not knowing the answer to these questions. The longer you wait, the more frustrating it becomes.

But what if there was an attendant at the crossing that informed you there were 48 cars on this train and that the expected wait time was going to be less than three minutes? You would feel much better about the wait knowing what to expect. Even if it were 200 cars with a 10-minute wait, you would at least feel much more comfortable with the process of waiting for the train to clear.

Ok, let’s get back on track! How do you think your customers and prospects feel when they see you (the engine) coming down the tracks (through their front door) knowing that somewhere behind you, you are pulling a caboose. Even if they want your caboose, they may be anxious with the cars in between that they cannot see. So put them at ease and tell them what kind of train cars you have and what the purpose of each of them is. Sell the train, not just the caboose!

You (the engine) have already established a rapport with your prospect and a relationship with your customer. You’ve talked about how your product or service (the caboose) is going to solve their problem or make their business more profitable. Now do something that will make the process less anxious and more comfortable for them. Show them that there are “X” number of cars in the train and what each of them is there for. Maybe your sales process has six cars in it. Describe each of the cars and what role they play in the process.

Just as important, when you drive your train through their door to follow-up with that first car, remind them what the next car looks like as well as the remaining cars that are still to come. This will reassure them of the process and prepare them for the next step. As every car goes by, sell the next car in line. In doing so, their comfort level will rise throughout the process making it much easier to pull your caboose through their door and collect on a successful delivery. Now, go get ‘em!