Top Five Ways Sale People Fail to Execute
The sales industry has made it almost impossible for the customer to trust sales professionals.
Sales is tough and it only seems tougher as the noise around us continues to increase in volume. The noise of constant email drips to us with sales pitches even though we have unsubscribed multiple times. Spam calls coming in even though we have spam blockers on our cell phones. That’s right it is hard to win sales when we are competing with the others in our industry trying to sell to the same people that we are. This is making the customer apprehensive to engage with even the best intentions from a sales professional.
Today let’s talk about the top five reasons why sales professionals are losing before they even begin the sale’s process.
Talking Too Much, Listening Too Little
There was a saying when I first started in sales that stuck with me ever since. We have two ears and one mouth so we need to be listening twice as much as we talk with the customer. Far too often sales professionals jump right into their pitch about how great the product or service is for the customer without knowing enough about the customer and their needs. Sales professionals pitch before they understand the customer. If sales professionals want to quickly end the sales cycle, this is by far the quickest end it.
Focusing on the Product, Not the Problem
I started in sales like most people rattling off how great my product offering was and I had the opportunity from one individual to stop me and say the following…”That’s great, but how does it help me?” Insert the gut punch. Until the sales professional knows what is keeping the customer up at night and what is causing the customer to wonder if they will move forward with their organization, the sales person is going to lose the sale. We cannot sell our product or service before we understand what is going on and how our product will support the customer to achieve their goals.
Skipping Discovery
I know this goes along with the item above, but far too often the sales professional has not asked enough questions to get to the root of the issues that the customer is having. If the customer is trying to figure out why they are having an issue and we jump in and say that our product will fix it, how do we think that customer is going to respond. It’s like going on a date with someone and asking them to marry them on the first date. Huge red flags if we are not understanding the other person in the conversation first.
No Clear Value Proposition
I did this when I first started in sales and yes, I own that. I just said my product will fix your issue and solve your efficiency issue because of this feature and this feature and this feature…The customer must have been saying to themselves how is this going to solve my problem because this product is shiny, or red, or have these cool things on it. When we present the solution, we need to make sure that the customer is understanding the value, not the sales price. If we are not selling value, we are going to turn into a commodity that will have us in a race to reducing profits against the competition.
Failing to Handle Objections
No one really enjoys objections. We in sales want everyone to say yes and thank us for saving their lives. When sales professionals hear an objection, instead of understanding that this objection is a map to help find the sale, most sales professionals instead, pack up and leave. Objections are like guardrails on the expressway helping us stay on track so we can get to the destination. Objections are great because they help us refocus and make sure we have discovered the largest issues the customer is facing. When we face objections and calibrate to align with the customer, we start building trust. If we are going to go anywhere with customers, we have to have trust.
That is why I have written, “The Sales Process Uncovered,” and created the online training to help sales professionals succeed in their careers by making the customers a hero of their story. The more we avoid these top five areas of failure the quicker we will win more sales with higher profits.
Hope this helps and have a great week!
Master the Art of Influence: Build Trust, Drive Sales, and Lead Effectively
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