Since September, I have conducted eight multi-day sales intensives for about three hundred salespeople. The vast majority of attendees had 5-25 years of tenure. When shown the graphic below virtually all agree they regularly skip steps between first and second base and run to third.

There are two reasons why this happens:

The first reason is that in the internet age, prospects believe they are experts after a few searches. So they push salespeople to present their company's services without having much of a conversation. They want to engage at third base.

The second reason is the capabilities of the sales force. The table below shows the average competency scores for all salespeople excluding elite and strong or the top 20%. These scores represent the remaining eighty percent of salespeople. We see strengths in account management, presentation approach and relationship building but weakness in reaching decision makers, consultative selling and qualifying.

The average score for the top three competencies is 56% while the average score for the bottom three competencies is 44%, a 22% variance.

When asked why they begin their sales process at third base, most answered in one of three ways:

1. They thought they would lose the deal if they pushed back on the prospect
2. They felt personally compelled to talk about products or services
3. They didn’t know there was another way. 

So much for the notion that salespeople don’t show up and throw up!

You might assume that after salespeople become aware of this, they can change. Unfortunately, this is not true. The reason why occurs in sales DNA. Most in the group above have Need for Approval, Become Emotional, have difficulty talking about money, and possess Non-Supportive Beliefs. It takes time to overcome these weaknesses and very proactive sales coaching. Sales manager should spend 50% of their time on coaching. Most of this should be scheduled, not on demand.

This is where a staged, milestone-centric sales process is so critical. Managers must coach to the sales process showing salespeople when and where they skip steps, why this happens and how to get prospects to slow down and move back to first base so they can have stage appropriate conversation(s). Consultative selling occurs between first and second base, not between second and third base. If you have not identified the business need, quantified its impact, identified the compelling reason to act and created a high value relationship (SOB) you set yourself up as another commodity seller who generates too many proposals and spends lots of time chasing prospects.

Would you like to become a better coach? Attend our March Sales Leadership Intensive and learn how to accelerate the develop of your salespeople and have greater impact on your sales force.

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Selling is harder today. Prospects are more educated; the competition is ferocious and differentiating yourself requires better skills and execution.

If you don’t change how you sell and how you manage, the competition will win. It’s a zero-sum game, you must either commit to improvement or ride status quo to the end.

Salespeople today must be highly effective hunters, skilled at having wide-ranging business discussions, steadfast in their commitment to walk away, tenacious at closing, and capable of establishing high-value relationships on the first meaningful call.

Using Objective Management Group data, I compared average salespeople with 10-15 years’ experience to average salespeople with 3-5 years. The seasoned group is slightly better. In relationship creation, hunting, consultative selling, qualifying, value-selling and sales posturing their scores are 3-5% higher. The percentage of “veterans” OMG defines as having strength in these same areas is 10% higher than the newer salespeople.

This means average new salespeople do improve over ten years but only marginally and that a higher percentage of veteran salespeople were either strong when hired or became strong in these critical skills.

 My conclusion: the status quo is way too acceptable.

The term, gift of gab, has been used to describe “born salespeople." Unfortunately, one reason salespeople struggle with improvement is wordiness or over-talking. As a result of this:

• Prospects get bored
• Prospects get confused
• We oversell
• We talk over prospects
• We lose our train of though
• The discussion is no longer a conversation
• We sound like a salesperson
• We don’t hear what people say

Our brains are wired to continue “normal” behavior. This means doing what we have always done. Patterned behavior can be changed but the new behavior must be repeated many times before it begins to become normalized. Learning to shorten your statements and questions requires practice and intentional application. You need a coach to listen to you and tell you when you are off course.  

When you use lots of words, it’s hard for people to understand. They tend to ask clarifying questions which can reinforce the behavior.

Try to avoid the first long-winded statement, this makes it easier to manage yourself. It’s best to leave props (literature, presentations, talking points) at home since they may get you talking.  Above all else focus on listening and asking about what you heard.

If you are really committed to be a better salesperson or manager, you need to become comfortable being uncomfortable. You don’t have to like it, you just have to do. Comfort comes from discomfort. Discomfort is a natural response to changing what is normal. If what you are doing feels too comfortable, it likely means you are not getting better, and getting better is a requirement for continued success in today’s sales environment.

If you are brave enough to look in the mirror, click on the link below.