- Published , 2019 by John Dean
There is a language that unsuccessful sales people have. They use it to diffuse the scent, and ask management to suspend judgement about their performance. And for some reason Sales Managers fall for it, “better the devil we know, cost of finding someone else, upsetting the apple cart….” whatever it is it doesn’t make sense!
The language can also be described as having a victim mentality. There is a tendancy to blame many things and never take responsibility for a lost deal. In talking to tens of thousands of sales people I have only ever heard once, one person say that they were to blame for a poor result.
Here are the signs your sales team are doormats that your prospects walk all over.
They tend to answer a question (about deal qualification) with such a long, and irrelevant answer such that everyone forgets the original question.
The pipeline is 10 x the sales target with mostly new opportunities that haven’t even been met yet. (They will not sack me if my pipeline is strong).
Responses like..
“They will buy next month…”
“It was price, we were too expensive”
“We lost on functionality”
“We are just waiting for one more signature”
“We need a better website” (I actually heard this in a sales meeting).
If you recognise this language what should you do about it? Every situation is different but here are some ideas…
1. Conduct a review of one opportunity. Ask them to tell you about any prospect. See how long they speak for. Rough rule, the longer they speak, the more they know, the better they are.
2. Go on a sales call with them (coaching call), see how much they talk vs listen (As a guide, listening and questioning – 70%, speaking – 30%).
3. Prepare a Performance Improvement Plan – a plan to help them improve the situation.
4. Buddy them up with a high performer.
5. Get sales training, or organise a coach for them.
