Customers don’t buy… because sellers don’t sell. Or at least they aren’t selling the right way. How do I know that? Two salespeople called this week and immediately launched into their sales “pitch’ (because it wasn’t a conversation) that went like this:
Me: Not really.
Salesperson: Oh. Let me tell you what we do. Blah… blah… blah… blah… blah…. Isn’t that something that will help you?
When the rep took a breath I asked what they knew about me and my company… and wasn’t surprised when they said ‘Nothing.’
The sales trainer in me couldn’t resist.
I offered a suggestion and told them to look at my website, and any other person’s site, before picking up the phone and calling.
The rep’s answer was appalling. It went like this, “I don’t have time to do that. I have 150 calls to make each day and I couldn’t possibly look at each company’s website.”
Wow. I hope the seller gets paid on meeting the quota of 150 calls rather than what is sold. Now a reminder to all sales managers out there.
Now a reminder to all sales managers out there-
[Tweet “Marketing is paying top dollar for leads. Don’t let your salespeople waste them.”]
Do you really know what’s going on with your sales team as they are calling the golden leads or referrals?
If not, get on it right now with these easy to follow tips to discover what’s really going on in the sales conversation.
3 Tips to Discover What’s Really Going On
- Set time to listen to each call center and field sales rep in action. That means telephone monitoring and field ride alongs. You are in listen-only mode. Listen to 3-5 conversations and you’ll know the gaps from approach to close. The patterns will emerge and you’ll nail the number one gap to address with skill building sales training and coaching.
- Require the use of a preparation sales worksheet. I don’t care if they are calling 150 people a day. (BTW, how can someone possibly do that…. 150 calls at 5 minutes a call is 12.5 hours. You do the math on the possibility of closing sales. Slim and none in my calculations.) Mandate to invest 5 minutes of prep time before picking up the phone or getting out of the car. This includes looking at the prospect’s website, determining the objective of the call, formulating what to say and the questions to ask. It’s also helpful to state how they will measure their success.
- Review current ‘hot prospects’ in the pipeline. Use the same preparation worksheet and walk through each portion. What was the objective of the last conversation? What need, want, problem or opportunity was discovered? How important is it to the prospect to fix it? What isn’t known that is a must need to know to close the deal or advance the sale? What objections or barriers may be keeping the prospect from buying? Then strategize on next steps for the upcoming conversation.
[Tweet “Buyers prefer to buy from strategic business partners.”]
Get your sellers selling the way buyers prefer to buy and your prospects won’t be frustrated, they’ll be buyers.
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