Do you know why your sales people close less sales then you would expect them to? Perhaps it is for one of the seven reasons identified by Dave Stein, the author of "How Winners Sell."
- The sales people do not have the necessary skills and personal traits. These are now quite different from what was required from sales people a few years ago. A sales person must be able to conduct a preliminary extensive research of the market, competitors and the clients as well.
- They do not understand the client's business. They don't prepare sufficiently, and they don't demonstrate an actual effort to solve customer's problems.
- They do not have a plan to close the sale. They don't set specific objectives, don't prepare an action plan, the negotiations are not under their direction.
- Too little or too much dependence on relationships. Relationship selling is not enough. A clear value must also be demonstrated. On the other hand, knowledge of the people who make decisions about business, provides a definite advantage. Then you need to show them that the sale will be mutually beneficial.
- Not knowing the competition, especially their salespeople. It pays to know the practices of other sales men, and to understand who else is in the game.
- They are afraid to get out of their comfort zone and automatically assume to have a position of strength. As soon as a sales person leaves their "comfort zone," they become more persistend and more likely reach those who actually make the buying decision. Some salesmen are afraid to contact the management, but those are unlikely to succeed.
- Sales people rely on the product or service capabilities. However, today there are very few companies with a product that all by itself is able to fend off all the competing alternatives. Differentiation usually lies in how the value of the product or service is communicated to customers.
-th-