Articles
Why salespeople don’t make more sales
(and how to turn it around)
by John GrahamWarning! This isn’t about dumping on salespeople or blaming them
for failing to meet their “numbers.” If that’s what you’re
looking for, this won’t help you.
Understandably, the pressure to improve sales performance is very real both for
salespeople and sales managers. Reducing sales costs, while maintaining proper
customer service, is a continuing and challenging business exercise.
Certainly, finding ways to use the Internet to facilitate the sales process is
a priority. At the top of any list is what can be called sales communication,
the task of making it possible for salespeople to stay in close contact with
their customers so that no customer is left behind.
While corporate America has come up with the term “Relationship Manager”
to describe this experience, it’s possible that Customer Manager
is even more descriptive. Although it is less “touchy-feely,” it
suggests that the salesperson’s role is implementing a wide array
or constellation of tactics to grow a book of business.
For this to occur, it may be helpful for salespeople to reconfigure both their
thinking and their practices in specific ways:
1. Move away from “it’s up to me” to “it’s
up to us.” Closing the deal is the salesperson’s symbol
of success. It’s coming home with “the big one.” It’s
the measure of one’s sales prowess. “I’ll take care of
it myself; I don’t trust anyone else,” is the mantra.
Team selling is an attempt to move from a “me” to more of an
“us” approach. While it’s certainly helpful, it seems
to miss the mark.
First American Insurance Underwriters, Inc., a life insurance and annuities wholesale
brokerage firm, sees the winning formula as a combination of a salesperson’s
in-depth experience and the company’s specialized expertise, particularly
when dealing with complex financial issues. One is not more important than the
other; it takes both.
In other words, the myth of the salesperson as lone hunter is gone, even though
many have difficulty putting it out of their minds.
2. Become an extension of the customer. The Internet is
having a formidable impact on sales and not only as a distribution channel.
BI (Before Internet), the “bond” between salesperson and customer
was primarily a
“relationship,” a quality that most salespeople continue to
believe is totally crucial to their success and something the company they
work for should treat with the utmost respect. In other words, any and
all dealings with the customer must go through the salesperson.
With the advent of the Internet, that not only changed; it ended. A decade ago,
those salespeople made it clear their customers wanted to “talk to a live
person.” Those words aren’t heard much today. Because buyers have
learned they can depend on the Internet to perform up to our expectations, they
use it as an actual extension of themselves. The fading of “paper back-up” is
just one indication of this trust.
What does this mean in terms of the salesperson’s “relationship”
with customers? More and more customers may be measuring a salesperson’s
value against their online experience. This means they expect the salesperson
to serve as an extension of themselves.
And then this poses an interesting question: Are men or women best prepared to
meet this challenge? Ramon Avila, the George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor
of Marketing at Ball State University in Indiana, indicates that the scales may
be weighted toward women. "In sales, you have to be really people oriented," he
states. "You have to listen and understand the client's wants and needs.
If you can empathize with what they are going through, you are going to do well
in sales. Women are generally better at that than most men."
The salesperson’s value is in being an extension of the customer.
3. Move beyond product knowledge. Again, before the Internet
and, more particularly before Google, salespeople were the primary source of
product knowledge. They were necessary because they held the keys in their hands.
Finding the right information is only nanoseconds away today.
Equally important is the fact that software is simplifying all types of products.
On a recent evening, only one person showed up at an Apple store for a class
on using the iPhone! More and more products are becoming intuitive.
What customers need––whether b2c or b2b––is how to maximize
the benefits of what they buy––what can they do with it that will
improve their lives, make them more successful or increase their income. Where
salespeople generally stopped in the past is just the beginning today.
4. Never dispose of prospective customers. “When
you conclude that you don’t want to spend more time working on a
prospect, what do you do with the information?” was the question
the marketing consultant asked the salesperson. “I keep the information
on file. I have to move on,” was the answer. Most salespeople can
relate to that scenario.
Although there are prospects that never become customers, there are others who
will. The salesman was clearly surprised to hear from me. “It’s been
several years since we talked,” he commented when calling back.
“Well, you kept in touch and the time came when we can use your help,”
I responded.
We never want to make a mistake when a buying decision needs to be made, so we
tend to rely on resources we already feel comfortable with instead of venturing
into uncharted waters. Ironically, these can often be the easiest sales: the
customer is ready to buy and price can become quite secondary.
What’s so interesting about these situations is how pleased––even
excited––these late blooming prospects are to be placing an order.
It’s almost as if they are finally repaying an overdue debt for the time
and effort that had been invested in them.
5. Become marketing-driven. It may seem that the words “marketing-driven”
and “salesperson” are incompatible. What has someone in sales
to do with marketing?
The answer is found in what is happening in sales. Every salesperson is expected
to accomplish more today and that’s a trend that will undoubtedly continue
to accelerate, particularly as competition continues to intensify.
Few salespeople are able to manage successfully their book of business–unless
they become marketers. Many are being handed larger territories, while others
are having the size of their territories reduced. Still others are being given
additional lines of business. Inevitably, the strategy is to focus on the biggest
customers and the best prospects and to neglect the rest.
When asked about this situation, the response is almost always, “I’ve
just been so busy, I haven’t had time to get to them.” Unfortunately,
this is becoming an untenable answer.
The goal of the marketing-driven salesperson is not to meet with or even to speak
with every possible prospect or customer. Some require regular direct contact,
either by phone or in person. The majority, however, can be “touched,” at
least monthly, with email bulletins that offer new ideas, concepts and solutions
(not just more product information) and that encourage recipients to respond.
The goal of this marketing strategy is three-fold: 1) to demonstrate that the
salesperson is a valuable resource; 2) to give the recipient the opportunity
to respond immediately; 3) to create a stream of sales over time. While you are
working on immediate sales and leads, the marketing effort is working in the
background. In effect, a marketing-driven approach is not simply to “get
the message out,” but, more importantly, to constantly connect with both
customers and prospects in a way that helps them recognize the salesperson’s
value.
It may be noticeable that nothing has been said about “sales techniques,”
a subject for which there are literally tens of thousands of websites,
which hold out the illusive allure of instant success.
Will Pike, the hero of William Martin’s historical novel, The Lost
Constitution, could have been speaking to salespeople when he talked to
his family about their lives and their Massachusetts mill: "We might be
dreamers, but we have to be doers, too. So we get up in the morning, we go to
work, and we solve our problems."
In the final analysis, it’s the doing that makes the difference in sales.
John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications, a marketing services and sales consulting firm. He is the author of The New Magnet Marketing and Break the Rules Selling, writes for a variety of business publications, and speaks on business, marketing and sales issues. Contact him at 40 Oval Road, Quincy, MA 02170; 617-328-0069; jgraham@grahamcomm.com.