- May 12, 2006
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
A successful serial entrepreneur who attended my seminar for CEO’s in Montreal today, suggested that there were two kinds of salespeople; those who prospected and went through the motions, only to not close, and those who asked for the business. Give me a break!
The most common type of salesperson is the one who doesn’t prospect enough, followed closely by the one who does it, albeit it ineffectively. Then there are those who have the following problems:
- they don’t have a process to follow
- they don’t determine whether the prospect needs what they have
- they don’t find the prospects’ compelling reasons to buy something
- they don’t find the prospects’ compelling reasons to buy from them
- they don’t get enough face time
- they don’t effectively differentiate themselves
- they don’t build a stronger relationship
- they don’t effectively demonstrate their superior expertise by asking better questions
- they don’t qualify the opportunity
- they don’t make a compelling case to buy from them
- they don’t present the solution in a clear, concise and compelling way
- they don’t present a needs appropriate or price appropriate solution
- they ask for business (not closing) but don’t close the business
- they don’t ask for the business
- they create too much pressure to buy
- they don’t create enough pressure to buy
- they take stalls and put-offs
You can learn more about how to solve most of these problems in Baseline Selling. For each one of those ‘types of salespeople‘ there are many more. Many salespeople exhibit multiple symptoms. The most obvious issue to most CEO’s is that the salespeople know what they’re supposed to do but they don’t do it. Our sales force evaluations clearly and consistently show why your salespeople are unable to execute what they already know – hidden weaknesses.
