You’ve invested thousands of the company’s money for a half day, full day or even a two day sales training seminar. The feedback from the salespeople was that it was great. They are all fired up with new ideas, slogans and one-liners determined to put them to the test. Well, now a little time has passed, how much of the training are the salespeople continuing to use? If you salespeople are like most salespeople, the answer will be, “not much”.

New information will not improve sales performance only applying it will. Selling is applied knowledge. It’s behaviour. And changing behaviour is difficult. It takes time – and practice – to alter behaviour, improve attitudes and outlooks and master new techniques. And time and practice are two things you just don’t get enough of at a typical sales training seminar. In fact, psychological studies have shown that most people forget most of what they hear at seminars within the first 48 hours. A pump-me-up sales training seminar will never be sufficient to positively redirect a languishing sales career.

Your company survives on its sales numbers. This is an eye-opening look at the deficiencies of modern day selling systems and sales management efforts. The fact that you’re reading this means you probably already have encountered some of these issues:

• Painfully long selling cycles
• Unmet sales “forecasts”
• Bad sales habits that are eroding your margins
• Prospects demanding – and getting – costly price concessions
• Lack of a common sales culture or methodology
• Hiring salespeople that don’t work out
• Bidding wars
• Over-promising that creates customer dissatisfaction

Nobody goes into a sales career to be average. Like everyone else in this line of work, they are an optimist. They believe they can be a top producer and earn the highest possible commission. After all they can handle rejection, and they are not afraid of hard work either. So what stops these talented, capable people from reaching the top of the selling profession? Why do some sales careers rocket to great heights and then suddenly die – and why do others never quite get off the ground?

The good news is the sales performance can be improved – dramatically and permanently. But first you have to know where to begin and what really requires fixing. If your salespeople are hitting “dry periods”, their first inclination may be to blame their sudden lack of success on the quality of the leads or the softening of the marketplace. Stop them. By seeking to place the blame elsewhere, they cheat themselves of a valuable opportunity to learn. Instead work with them to take a good, hard, dispassionate look at what they are doing. Chances are you’ll find there is something amiss like their attitude, their behaviour or their technique.

This is particularly true for salespeople experiencing any of the following common sales problems:

• Prospects increasingly want to “think it over”
• “Gatekeepers” easily turn them away, and they have no strategy for dealing effectively with voicemail or email
• They are uncomfortable discussing price and fees
• Their answer to most competitors seeking advantages is an offer to lower the price
• They take rejection personally and let it affect their performance
• They blame you their manager or management/marketing for their shortcomings

While the tell-tale signs of sales underachievement may appear endless, the true causes are generally quite specific. More often than not, their roots can be found in the overall approach you take to the selling process.

SUMMARY:

The way sales has progressed from the old methods, tactics and techniques approach just doesn't work in today's market. Sales engagement today needs to reflect ways of helping the customer solve a business challenge but also as part of building relationships requires understanding of buyer's behaviour and applied knowledge.

Sales expectations need to be realistic and mindful of sales people behaviours, sales process and awareness of your prospective customers needs first. To prevent more salespeople from failing, appropriate training is needed in order to achieve better sales effectiveness and results. A starting point is to develop the ability and skills for deeper insight into your clients needs first.

If you are a business owner or sales manager needing to find out more effective ways to increase your sales engagement and sales performance, please contact us for an obligation-free initial discussion.