FEATURE | SALES METHODS
5
MAJOR MISTAKES
Salespeople make five common errors, says PAUL BLACK
A
significant issue facing companies of all shapes, sizes, and turnovers is that – in terms of revenue – a fraction of the salesforce ends up doing most of the heavy lifting. In fact, 67% of the average sales team will fail to meet their quota, while 8% will be responsible for 80% of the company’s sales. What makes that 8% so successful? It’s not that they’re born superstars and it can’t be ascribed to any innate quality; certainly, you need a way with people to make any headway in this profession, but charisma and interpersonal skills serve more as entry criteria than any real assurance of success. The truth is that many salespeople lack purpose: unmoored from any discernible strategy, their approach is often to fumble around calls and meetings without the information they need to close that all-important deal. That said, in most cases, an underperforming salesperson is not irredeemable – which is
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fortunate. When you consider that it costs around £75,000 to find a replacement, it’s always worth looking into what they are doing wrong first and attempting to find a solution. You’ll have a stronger team than you would if you immediately replaced the 67% of your staff who are not bringing in enough business – and it’s obviously significantly cheaper. But finding a solution is often easier said than done. We’ve identified five major mistakes that salespeople make when selling that cause business owners to despair.
MISTAKE 1
PHONING WITHOUT PURPOSE Too often, salespeople make calls just for the sake of it. They might be chasing a daily call quota, or have a list of names to work through, and end up simply focusing on completing the task rather than doing it well. OF SALESPEOPLE Cold calling may be a traditional DELIVER 80% OF SALES
8%
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19/01/2016 16:55
