Major Account Selling: The Top 5 Reasons that Sales People Fail

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Major Account Selling: The Top 5 Reasons that Sales People Fail

I read a great blog post today: The Top Five Reasons that Sales People Fail at hightechguru.com. It’s worth a read - but in the meantime, here’s the shortened version with my commentary:

1. Buyers have a system, sales people usually don’t.

Did you know that there are organizations out there that train buyers how to “get better deals?” (www.dobetterdeals.com). Buyers are afraid of being sold something they don’t want, and consequently are quite defensive. Sales people need a methodology or a “system” for adding value to the buying process.

2. Sales people spend too much time with prospects that will never buy.

60% of a sales person’s time is spent in front of people who will not buy their product. Qualifying out a prospect is as important a skill as qualifying one in. 

3. Sales people talk too much.

This one speaks for itself. You can’t learn much about the real issues that a prospect is having if you are doing all the talking. Listen more. 

4. Sales people focus too much on price.

Price is never the real issue. People make buying decisions because they have a problem to solve or they need to change something. Help them figure out how to do what they are want to do and price becomes less important. 

5. Sales people fail to get firm commitments from buyers.

All too often, sales people jump through hoops to provide presentations, proposals, demos etc before understanding the prospect’s motivation – resulting in a lot of wasted effort. Sales people need to first become adept at helping buyers feel more comfortable sharing their pain/gain – and then get their commitment to appropriate next steps. Great sales people mark the steps of the sales cycle based on customer activities, not their own.

If you find yourself losing more deals than you’d like – do a self-assessment. Do any of the five areas above have your name on them?