In nearly all cases, Sales People fail because they fall into BAD HABITS.
- They don’t talk to enough high potential buyers on a regular basis
- They cannot explain their company’s differentiating factors and competitive advantages in a compelling, credible and persuasive way.
- They are not skillful at applying a proven sales process that generates rapport, discovers needs through good questions and listening then tailors the product/service to truly fit what the customer needs.
- They are not effective at identifying buying objections/barriers and responding them in a way that lowers resistance and increases buying enthusiasm.
More than anything, what enables these bad habits is poor training, coaching and follow up. When a sales team has a great sales manager that makes sure the sales people build good habits and learn the fundamentals of selling their product/service, then two things happen:
- Sales team members with potential learn, improve and eventually succeed.
- Poor performing sales team members either get better or are replaced relatively quickly.
There are Two Distinct Types of Sales Training
- Programs that focus on the communication challenges of selling
- Programs that focus on the planning, strategy and account management challenges of selling.
In our opinion, far too much money is spent on #2 when the real problems that are preventing greater success with more members on the sales team have to do with #1. There is a time and place for focusing on things like how to leverage social networking, maximizing the CRM, the account development process, networking, building your personal brand, etc., but it’s very important to keep in mind that all those activities, all that planning, all those keystrokes into a master database ultimately are trying to create the EXACT same thing … more voice-to-voice or face-to-face selling conversations with people that have the authority to buy a lot of your product and/or service. It is what happens in those moments, when that sales conversation begins, that determines success. More often than not, the sales team members that are not top performers are not very effective at the most basic skills of selling.
- They don’t talk to enough prospects and customers on a regular basis
- They do not have an always available list of the 25 high potential buyers they are trying to schedule meetings with.
- They do not have a compelling answer to the simple question: “Tell me what you do and a little about your company.”
- They cannot explain their companies differentiating factors, competitive advantages and value proposition in a compelling, credible and persuasive way.
- They are not skillful at applying a proven sales process that generates rapport, discovers needs through good questions and listening then tailors the product/service to truly fit what the customer needs.
- They cannot get the customer/prospect to tell him/her the truth about what is causing them not to buy.
All the account development and CRM training in the world is simply not going to move the needle when a sales team member cannot do these things effectively. From our experience, it is a waste of time, energy and money to train sales people on anything else until they demonstrate mastery of the fundamental and important selling skills.
Consilio, more than any training company on the planet, can quickly turn the fundamentals of selling into one of your company’s most powerful competitive advantages.
