The majority of business owners and sales leaders believe that developing sustainable sales is one of the most difficult tasks that they face each year. Here is what we discovered most companies face as their biggest sales problems and how they can be fixed.
Sales Problem #1
No Sales Playbook
This is similar to building a house without a solid foundation—or going from New York to Chicago without a GPS or map. A solid foundation and a plan are keys to success. In addition, leading sports teams and their coaches have a “playbook” to win games. The coach develops the playbook and the players execute the plays to win. Here are the major problems of not having a Sales Playbook of solutions to increase sales.
PROBLEMS | SOLUTIONS |
No U.S.P. (Unique Selling Proposition)
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Create and lead with a powerful U.S.P. in the marketplace to make your business truly unique in the prospect’s mind – separate yourself from your competitors |
Failure to communicate
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Translate your company’s products and services into solutions instead of descriptions and features of what you sell. Companies buy increased performance, better efficiency, cost reductions etc. that your company offers…emphasize the true benefits |
Top Down Marketing vs. Bottom Up Selling
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Listen to the marketplace and your customers and develop products and services that fit their needs and wants vs. what you want to try to sell |
Sales Organization
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Look at re-designing your sales structure by having your sales force sell in specific market verticals, by selling only specific product s or services, or by specific territories. The more precise this system is, the better sales results you will achieve |
Sales Positions
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Mix up your sales positions by hiring inside salespeople, lead generation people, and sales assistants to maximize your company’s sales productivity. For example, if you have a top sales performer, what assistance can you give them to further increase their daily sales performance? |
Sales Problem #2
Sales Recruiting
The task of finding true sales professionals to reach and exceed their sales quotas consistently is challenging to most business owners and sales managers. Consider these basic sales facts …
- 20% of any sales force generally contributes 80% of a company’s sales (why did the bottom 80% even get hired?)
- Over 50% of any sales force fails to reach their annual sales quotas regardless of industry
- Sales has the highest turnover rate of any industry
- Approximately 70% of any sales force is mis-matched…either they don’t have the right sales success profile or they are selling in the wrong industry which doesn’t match their skills
PROBLEMS | SOLUTIONS |
Hiring industry experience vs. true sales “talent” |
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Hiring on your “gut feeling” or the “right chemistry” |
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Service vs. Product Selling (they are NOT the same) |
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Sales Problem #3
No Proven Sales Process
From our meetings with business owners and sales managers we have found that most do not offer a structured sales training program. In fact, in more than 50% of all sales presentations, the salesperson “wings it” vs. following a specific process for their presentation.
PROBLEMS | SOLUTIONS |
Inconsistent Sales Presentations
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No Continuous Improvement Programs |
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Sales Metrics
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