Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
Recently I wrote about salespeople and their inability to question, listen and discover the one compelling reason that would cause a prospect to spend their money. But that's only one of the many challenges facing salespeople. Today I'll give you one more: Lack of urgency. No, not their inability to create urgency for the prospect to take action - we'll cover that another time. I'm writing about their own lack of urgency. Many salespeople lack the urgency to make the next call, ask the next question, move the process forward, follow up on a timely basis, do something proactive, close today, make a second attempt to close today, get an introduction, etc. This lack of urgency drives me nuts!
'John, what happened when you followed up with ABC Company?'
'I left a message a couple of days ago. Haven't heard from them yet.'
'Did you call them back?'
'Well, no.'
'Then call them back!'
'I don't want to bother them.'
This drives me crazy. There must be enough urgency to perform proper follow up. If the prospect at ABC agreed that you would next speak on Monday, your salespeople should be setting an exact time to speak so that it's an appointment rather than a tentative time to touch base. Then, if the prospect isn't available to take the 10 AM call, it's appropriate to phone back several times if necessary because the appointment was broken. The urgency to do what's necessary is a necessary trait.
Q: If you have salespeople that don't feel that urgency what can you do?
A: You can trait them in for new ones!
Seriously, if this condition doesn't change after putting them through professional goal setting, the problem could be chronic. If you or a sales manager coaches them for a few weeks and attempts to convey what urgency feels like, consistently pushes them to behave with a greater sense of urgency, and that fails to change anytihing, you may have to cut your losses and start with someone new. (c) Copyright 2006 Objective Management Group, Inc.
