Sales Problems
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What Causes Sales Problems?
Sales problems inflict almost anyone who has anything to sell, whether it's products, services or ideas. Recognizing our sales problems may be the best way to find their solutions. After all, if we don't accept that there is a problem, how would we know whether to look for a solution?
However, just accepting that there is a problem is not enough. We also must find out the root-causes of that problem so that we can fix it, once and for all.
Finally, it's important to note that we live in a different world with a different set of sales challenges than we did just a couple of years ago. So we must use different strategies and fresh approaches to solve our age-old sales problems.
On this page, I present to you an opportunity to come to terms with some of your most recurring sales problems, get some insights into what their underlying causes are and offer you some fresh perspectives and approaches to fixing them, once and for all.
However, just accepting that there is a problem is not enough. We also must find out the root-causes of that problem so that we can fix it, once and for all.
Finally, it's important to note that we live in a different world with a different set of sales challenges than we did just a couple of years ago. So we must use different strategies and fresh approaches to solve our age-old sales problems.
On this page, I present to you an opportunity to come to terms with some of your most recurring sales problems, get some insights into what their underlying causes are and offer you some fresh perspectives and approaches to fixing them, once and for all.
What's in a name?
How do you perceive selling, and salespeople?
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Juliana
"It isn't that we can't see the solution. It's that we can't see the problem." ~ G. K. Chesterton
Quiz: How do you approach sales?
See what your score is, then challenge a friend
There are 22 questions in this quiz. Don't worry, they are easy questions with only two answers: True or False. Just remember not to over-think your answers. The first response is normally the "right" one. Good luck!
Comments (rabble rabble)
How did you do?
Did you take the quiz? How did you do? Pay close attention to the answers you got "wrong." What did you learn? Why do you think they were wrong? Perhaps you disagree with the assessment of your answers. Good! Please leave your thoughts below.
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MiddleSister
Jan 9, 2012 @ 7:14 pm | delete
- I would probably use "the system" I learned a few times, then keep the principles behind it, and change it to make it my own.
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My sales problems
If I ignore them long enough, will they go away?
You will probably agree that there is tremendous relief in just accepting a problem as a problem. Once you have done that, often a solution reveals itself effortlessly. By taking the quiz above, you have already taken a very important step: Examining your current sales practices which might be causing some of your sales problems. Next, let's further clarify those underlying causes to your sales problems.
Reasons for my sales problems
Find one that you can identify with and vote it up
Look at the following list of underlying reasons for the sales problems faced by most people who sell. Can you find at least one that you can identify with from your own personal experience? If you can, please vote it up.
1
I have not yet crystallized a message, story or a narrative about what my product or service will do for my customer.
3 points
2
I avoid talking about money up-front in hopes that I will impress my prospects enough that money won't be an issue.
1 point
3
I end up wasting time with non-prospects because I am too polite to tell them that they are not qualified.
1 point
4
I feel dispassionate, bored or emotionally drained with what I have to do to bring in fresh prospects.
1 point
5
I continue to work with prospects who tell me or indicate to me that they are not committed to making a buying decision.
1 point
6
I don't have the right prospects in my sales pipeline although I have many prospects.
0 points
7
I don't have enough quantity of prospects in my sales pipeline.
0 points
8
I have been assuming that there is no way that a long sales cycle can be shortened.
0 points
9
I have been wrongly assuming that people buy rationally and have been trying to appeal to their intellect.
0 points
10
I have not figured out what makes me and my business different so I won't have to sell on price only.
0 points
11
I am afraid of hearing a rejection from a prospect so I don't give them the permission to tell me NO.
0 points
12
I try to impress my prospects with presentations; they use what they learn from me to shop the competition!
0 points
13
I use my superior product knowledge to win deals but often lose to those with inferior product knowledge.
0 points
14
I have wrongly assumed that people make decisions intellectually.
0 points
15
I avoid asking too many questions to my prospects fearing that I will make them upset.
0 points
16
I don't ask prospects about their decision making process up-front and assume that I know it.
0 points
17
I am not yet crystal-clear about who my ideal client is.
0 points
18
I believe that educating my prospects about my products and services helps me sell more and lose leverage in the process.
0 points
19
I have memorized the selling method I have learned from a seminar and use it even when my prospect becomes uncomfortable with it.
0 points
20
I "outsource" the creation of my marketing message to other people and as a result feel disconnected from it.
0 points
21
I use the "selling system" I learned at the sales training seminar to beat myself up with when I don't do it "right."
0 points
22
I don't ask enough questions to my prospects because I'm afraid I'd make them upset.
0 points
Further Reading
Books from Amazon
1
Jump Start Your Business Brain: The Scientific Way To Make More Money by Doug Hall
Jump Start Your Business Brain lays out proven ste more...0 points
2
Solution Selling: Creating Buyers in Difficult Selling Markets by Michael Bosworth
People love to buy, but they hate to be sold. If w more...0 points
4
The New Strategic Selling: The Unique Sales System Proven Successful by the World's Best Companies by Stephen E. Heiman, Tad Tuleja, Robert B. Miller
If you your selling opportunities involve complex more...0 points
5
You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar: The Sandler Sales Institute's 7-Step System for Successful Selling by David H. Sandler, John Hayes
This work is an excellent study in human behavior more...0 points
"The important thing about a problem is not its solution, but the strength we gain in finding the solution." ~ Anonymous
Solutions to my sales problems
Is there one that appeals to you?
Following is a list of 22 sales solutions that correspond to the 21 reasons for the sales problems above. Please see if you can find at least one solution that appeals to you and vote it UP!
1
Pay more attention to having the right quality of prospects in my sales pipeline, not just quantity.
1 point
2
Find ways to have just a little more than enough of the ideal prospects in my sales pipeline
1 point
3
Be open to the possibility that there is almost always a way to shorten a long sales cycle.
1 point
4
Accept that prospects don't make buying decisions rationally and find ways to appeal to their emotions.
1 point
5
Figure out what makes me and my business different from my competitors so I won't have to sell on price only.
1 point
6
Accept that not every prospect will buy from me and give them the permission to tell me NO.
1 point
7
Ask lots of questions to my prospects, not talk so much, and uncover their emotional reasons for buying my solutions.
1 point
8
Address the issue of money up-front so that it won't be an issue later on.
1 point
9
Realize that people have a basic need to be understood and asking gentle, nurturing questions with the intent to truly understand will help me win their trust.
1 point
10
Ask my prospects about their decision making process up-front to avoid unpleasant surprises later on.
1 point
11
Become crystal-clear about who my ideal client is.
1 point
12
Crystallize a message, story or a narrative about what my product or service will do for my customer.
1 point
13
Stop wasting time with non-prospects and find a way to respectfully let them know that they are not the right prospect for me.
1 point
14
Realize that it's not educating my prospects about my products and services that helps me close deals; it's understanding them and then offering solutions.
1 point
15
Find ways to bring in fresh prospects that energize me instead of draining me.
1 point
16
Discontinue working with prospects who indicate to me that they are not committed to making a buying decision, spending my efforts with those who are.
1 point
17
Ask lots of questions to my prospects so they are talking more than me, not the other way around.
1 point
18
Withhold educating my prospects with product knowledge until I am convinced that they are the right prospect for me and my business.
0 points
19
Realize that the faculty that helps people make decisions is their emotion, not intellect.
0 points
20
Understand that listening to my prospects is infinitely more important than following the "sales system" I learned at the sales seminar.
0 points
21
Realize that to feel connected to my marketing message, I need to spend time working on it myself, not outsource it to others.
0 points
22
Not use the "selling system" I learned at the sales training seminar to beat myself up with when I don't do it "right" and instead see it a Way that guides me along.
0 points
Sales problems and solutions
Curious for more? Check this out
Check out this sister page that looks at sales problems from yet another perspective. It spells out some of the most recurring sales problems we face and how to solve them with some non-traditional strategies.
The way of awareness
In sales and marketing
"All work is empty save when there is love, for work is love made visible." ~ Khalil Gibran
Traditionally, a sales and marketing process is seen as a set of activities a person is committed to doing consistently over time. There are downsides to making a mechanistic process out of our actions, however. When we make a process or a system out of the sales activities and behaviors, our work could become dry, repetitive and mechanical.
A better way to think of a marketing and sales process is to see it as a Way of doing things that allows a level of autonomy, spontaneity and freedom while providing a guiding path to doing the work. This Way could also be laid out such that the people on it are aware while acting and their actions are strategic, meaningful and effortless.
There are three important aspects to selling and marketing by the way of awareness: 1) The way of marketing, which lines up qualified prospects in the sales pipeline, 2) The way of selling, which breaks down barriers between the sales person and the prospect and creates a mutually trusting relationship and 3) A degree of awareness on the part of the selling person which makes the marketing and sales process come alive with exhilaration and inspiration.
The way of awareness
In business management
Selling Systems
How they Fail Salespeople
- Sales Failure: How Selling Systems are Failing Salespeople
- Although they can be useful, selling systems are often the cause of problems and failings in sales, not their solution. This articles examines and compares major selling systems and processes - both traditional and non-traditional - and offers an alternative non-system to free up the salesperson from her selling system.
Questions or comments on sales problems and solutions?
Please leave them below
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MiddleSister
Jan 9, 2012 @ 7:17 pm | delete
- Influencing others is selling. Your ideas are so engaging. Loved that quiz.
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inhousefinancing
Nov 30, 2011 @ 11:59 am | delete
- I love that 22 questions sales quiz. There is always something to learn that will benefit us in selling. I love to sell which actually means I help the client to enjoy buying and that will excite them to carry through on their end while I do the same on mine. Another great lens.
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karmicchristian
Nov 5, 2011 @ 1:09 am | delete
- Nice article! Almost all of are into some form of sales, whether we choose to accept it or not! This is relevant in many ways. :)
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bhavesh
Nov 5, 2011 @ 1:20 am | delete
- That is so true, karmicchristian. We all (almost) sell something to somebody.
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A little about me
by bhavesh
I have spent over 1000 hours as a trainer to sales people, sales managers and business owners, helping them create non-traditional, cutting-edge solut... more »
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