Business LockerRoom Blog

Your ‘Salespeople’ Are Losing Your Customers

by Kelly Riggs

Here’s a question for you: Can anyone learn how to sell?

“Absolutely,” says one.

“Stupid question. No way,” says another.

I’ve heard passionate arguments on both sides.

I think lots of people automatically say no because they think you’re either a salesperson or you aren’t. Either you have it or you don’t. The opinion is that selling is based on an intrinsic personality type and/or specific inherent talents. And, quite frankly, we salespeople do like to think we’re a bit special…

But others passionately disagree. They assert that selling is a set of skills that anyone can learn. The thought is that, sure, some people are probably better at it than others, but anyone can actually learn how to sell.

It’s an interesting question, and most people have that immediate gut reaction. But one thing I think is very clear: the idea of the “born salesperson” left the building a very long time ago.

“Look, honey, we had a salesperson! Isn’t she cute?”

Sounds a bit silly. And, yes, I know that we often say someone was “born” to do something after we observe what appears to be their effortless mastery of something, but that’s just something we say.

“Yes, I knew the minute he was born he would be a PGA golfer.”

Really?

“He just makes it look so easy…”

Uh huh. Thousands of hours of deliberate practice can do that for you.

In my case, for example, I learned the skills of football. I played well enough to make a D-1 college team and get some playing time. But, I lacked size and big-time speed. Yeah, I know, there isn’t much more to lack. I had a coach say once: “Riggs, you’re small, but you’re slow.” Clearly, motivation wasn’t his strong suit.

But, over the course of many years of practice, and two-a-days, and film sessions, and workouts, I learned how to play the game. But the NFL was obviously not in my career path.

I think the same holds true in sales. We can teach anyone the critical selling skills, and with enough practice and commitment to the craft, I suspect anyone can become an above-average salesperson. But, there are some intrinsic talents or traits that will likely make one salesperson better than another. Those talents are probably people skills, first, and the ability to think on your feet, second. Plus, with business intelligence tools that businesses have the option of using, improving customer satisfaction should be a lot less stressful. To find out more about business intelligence, you may want to check out companies like microstrategy. Everything takes time, especially when it comes to a business. As long as you have your goals in mind and come up with effective ways of improving various aspects of your business, that’s what matters.

Let’s face it, some sales pros are simply better than others because they are very good with people. And the real superstars in the profession are remarkably fluid in responding to those curve balls every salesperson encounters.

But, again, to be clear, people skills alone – especially the proverbial gift of gab – is never enough to create a professional salesperson. That’s where selling skills come in, and yes, those skills can be taught – to anyone.

Here is that perspective as shared by Jim Keenan in his new book Not Taught: What It Takes to Be Successful in the 21st Century That Nobody’s Teaching You:

Here’s the good news: anyone can learn to sell. There is no special sauce. It’s not something you’re born with. Unlike conventional wisdom, you don’t have to be charismatic or gregarious. You simply have to give a —-. Yup, selling is that simple. To be a killer salesperson, you simply have to give a —- about the people and environment in which you’re selling. If you care enough about the people you are trying to “sell” to and are keenly focused on what it is they need and how you can improve their world, selling becomes easy.

Jim Keenan, Not Taught (p. 71)

Customer Touch Points

So, that’s my answer to the question. BUT, I actually asked the question for a much different reason.

You see, some of your salespeople are guilty of losing customers because they’ve not been taught those critical skills. And I’m not talking about the salespeople who go out in the field and actually sell your products or services. I’m talking about all of the other “salespeople” in the building.

It can also help if you follow this line of thinking:

1. Just about everyone in your company “touches” the customer either directly or indirectly
2. That would imply that each of those employees does, in fact, serve in a “sales” role of sorts; i.e., each of those employees has the ability to “keep” or “lose” a customer
3. So, although people generally don’t like the word “sales,” every employee should learn how to sell

No, they don’t make sales calls per se. Even so, it is still crucial that they play a crucial role in acquiring and/or retaining a customer, whether it is by providing them with small tokens of appreciation (presumably by engaging luxury corporate gifting services) or assisting them with the entire buying process. In fact, some of these people can be running off customers faster than your titled salespeople can get new ones.

Hey, call it customer service if it makes you feel better. But, in their words and actions, every employee has the ability – if they come into contact with the customer – to reinforce your brand, bolster your image, and confirm your value proposition.

And, they also have the ability to lose that customer through indifference, indecision, or a dozen seemingly insignificant mistakes.

NOW THE REALLY BAD NEWS…those employees inside the company that have customer contact; they can actually be reasonably good and STILL cost you customers.

Let me explain.

Let’s take a hotel setting as an example. A customer will come into contact with a number of different people in an average stay:

1. Reservations
2. Check-in or concierge
3. Housekeeping (whose impact is based upon how the room is at check-in)
4. Restaurant or room service
5. Check-out, including billing

For the sake of argument, let’s assume that every single department has recorded a 95% customer satisfaction rating. That sounds pretty acceptable, doesn’t it? 95% customer satisfaction is nothing to sneeze at.

Except that in five different touches at 95% satisfaction, the chances are about 1-in-4 that a guest will encounter a problem. Just multiply .95 x .95 x .95 x .95 x .95, which equals .77, or a 23% chance that a guest has an issue. Someone makes a mistake. Someone is having a bad day and is a bit rude. Something is wrong with the reservation or the bill. The food doesn’t quite cut it.

You see, 95% sounds pretty good. Right up until it doesn’t.

And the most important thing to note is that customers typically understand if there is a problem with a product or service (as long as it’s not catastrophic). What they DON’T understand is an employee who isn’t committed to solving the problem; who won’t go the extra mile; who makes the customer feel like a nuisance for asking about the issue.

Not to worry, though. The only thing at stake is your brand.

To reduce the recurrence of issues related to bad service, businesses can opt for automated customer support on the company’s websites with the assistance of chatbots and conversational AI, which can resolve initial customer issues without the need for human interference. This means live customer support will have to handle only a few and far less complaints, only entertaining requests with higher severity.

Moreover, your employees need to understand that they play a role in “selling” the customer. They have to take that role very seriously. Otherwise, those “salespeople” will lose some of your customers….after all that hard work to get them.

So, can you teach anyone in the company to sell?

Can you teach them how to positively influence a customer?

Obviously, that’s the wrong question. The real question is this: ARE you teaching everyone how to sell?