Deadly Sales Sins

So you’ve made some sales and exported some products. Your company is growing but perhaps not as fast as you would like. And it’s hard work to close those deals and build new markets. Why is it so hard?

Blame the economy, the competition, too much regulation. The sales team’s not working hard enough. The sales culture in the export markets is slow. The new version would help, if only it was finished ……. But could it be because your sales team (or you) are committing some deadly sins? Let’s see.

Are your team wasting time calling non-decision makers? Certainly, there are gate-keepers to be managed and, in the public sector, grade 5 managers play an important influencing role but do you really qualify who your team are spending their time with and why? They may be making their meeting or activity quotas but if they’re talking to the wrong people then so what?

Are your salespeople struggling with closing? Perhaps, but the chances are their problem is not closing. Their problem is wasting time trying to close deals that they should never have qualified into in the first place. Check your qualification process (and it is a process, not a one-off activity at the start of a sales cycle).

So, you’ve made a couple of great sales but finding it difficult to make more. Is your sales process consistent? Have you thoroughly analysed why you made those wins and why you’ve lost others? If you don’t try and document your process, you are doomed to re-invent the wheel each time. What a waste of effort.

What’s the fastest way to get rid of a salesperson? Ask for a proposal. And it is so easy to fall into this trap. It makes us feel busy, engaged, building a pipeline. Equally, there is a good chance we have been thrown a bone to stop us pestering someone, make up the numbers, give them reasons to turn us down. Again, this can be avoided through good qualification and dealing with decision-makers only.

And there are more sins. Do you have measurable sales goals & objectives? Are you getting sufficient customer referrals? Do you think that software (contact management, CRM) is the answer? If you want to know more, talk to me.

Happy Selling.

Geraldine Fusciardi

www.strategy-structure-sales.com