Is It Painful to Watch Your Salespeople?

by Kelly Riggs

The bad ones, frankly, are just painful to watch. If you happen to be the customer, you’re uncomfortable or impatient or irritated. If you’re an observer, you’re looking for a reason to exit.

But the good salespeople? They are so effective that the sales call appears effortless; like two friends trying to figure out a problem. The dialogue between the salesperson and prospect(s) is natural and easy, and there are no manipulative questions or ridiculous claims. Instead, challenges are identified and issues overcome.

And the deal closes.

But, south of that really good sales call is a spectrum of sales calls that range all the way from so-so to don’t-let-the-door-hit-you-on-the-way-out. It might be the initial meeting, or a follow-up call, or a full blown solution presentation, but they all fall well short of optimum.

And the problem is that as mistakes are made, beginning with the first call, it’s like a runaway train gathering momentum as it rolls down the hill — it gets harder and harder to stop. Unfortunately, for salespeople, it’s almost guaranteed to result in bad or marginal solution presentations because those initial sales calls are so ineffective. Furthermore, several times, it is not the salesperson who is at fault, but rather the company for which he works. So often, if a company is a startup, it does not invest in VoIP, which takes time to place the call to each individual separately. Alternatively, it could be the best investment a sales company can make. VoIP can be used for meetings or calls by anyone, not just salespeople. Using a personal cell phone for business isn’t always a bad idea, but you don’t want to be using your phone number for business purposes. (Read More about how to make calls from a computer).

Another reason that is common is quite simple: most salespeople have not been trained to conduct effective sales calls. They don’t start well. They don’t end well. And the middle is usually a waste of time. The call is all about the salesperson and has little to do with the customer.

At least that’s what customers say. And, since they ARE the customer and their impressions matter, I tend to believe them.

The biggest mistake salespeople make is in failing to think about and prepare for the sales call. Since every sales call is different — the introductory call, the discovery call(s), the presentation call, follow-up calls, negotiation calls, and so forth — it stands to reason that a salesperson should be uniquely prepared for that call.

And, most importantly, that preparation should focus around the prospect or customer, not around the salesperson.

Most companies with a sales wing could do well to hold staff-wide negotiation training which can help salespeople come up with better strategies to speak to consumers; understand the psychological perspectives; and bring forth a better personality overall during any stage of the sales calls. This is exactly what organizations like ENS International Negotiation aim to do for their clients-and it is also what’s missing in most sales personnel these days.

But salespeople claim they ARE prepared. When you ask, they will tell you they have their PowerPoint slides ready and the computer is fully charged. They’ve also got brochures and spec sheets handy, if needed, and they know what product they want to focus on.

Really? Is that it?

What about the following items?

Do you understand the organization and it’s structure?
Do you understand the company’s strategy? Marketing emphasis?
Do you know what questions will you ask to create dialogue?
Do you have a clear understanding of their buying process and who will be involved?
Do you fully understand the problem they are trying to solve?
What surprises might you encounter (based on previous experiences)? How will you respond?

In other words, are there significant gaps in your knowledge and understanding that might undermine your effectiveness?

The problem, as I’ve written about in the past, is that salespeople want to ask the prospect to get married on the first date (which, if you’re particularly dense, is a really bad plan) instead of going to all the trouble of actually earning the right to pop the question.

Instead, most salespeople have a very simplified sales process:

Get a lead. Make a presentation. [Pray for luck.]

There is little or no strategy involved, nor is there a whole of thinking that goes into the process. The general idea is “I get paid to ‘sell.'” Translation: I get in front of prospects and make presentations.

But, here is what you actually get paid for:

• To identify potential opportunities
• To qualify those opportunities (in or out)
• To create credibility and establish trust
• To understand the problem(s) that may exist currently in those opportunities
• To help the prospect fully comprehend and internalize the costs and consequences of those problems
• To engage in a dialogue with the customer that leads to a discovery of an appropriate solution to those problems
• To present a value-laden solution that solves the problem
• To arrive at an agreement that the solution is ideal
• To negotiate the terms of that agreement in a way that is mutually satisfactory
• To implement the solution in a way that confirms the customer made the right choice

That’s quite a bit more detailed than “get a lead and make a presentation.” It takes more work, more thinking, and much more preparation.

But, if it was easy, I guess anyone could do it well.