What are your biggest sales issues?

[DexG]

Hey to all sales people!

I’m currently trying to find out how one can meet and exceed their sales quota
Which is why I have two very simple questions:

1. As a sales professional, what are the 2 biggest issues you’re dealing with?
2. In your sales job, if there could be one thing that helps you to be more successful, what would it be

Thanks so much in advance – looking forward to reading your answers!

 

[Mr D]

Meet and exceed sales quota?
Usually by selling.

1. Other sales reps running the industry down. Managers who try and crash a successful relationship.
2. Hawkman rocket cycle.

Been a little while since did sales but still keep in touch with some friends still doing it.

 

[dotcomdude]

I’m currently trying to find out how one can meet and exceed their sales quota

Sell more than what you were expecting to sell in that timeframe!

 

[Instamixes]

The main important thing is that you need to have full knowledge of your product and services that you are selling. It will work on your sales performance.

 

[MBE2017]

To be selling to truly interested people, at a fair price.

I have a lot of companies ask myself to sell for them, but a good solid lead issued can be a request for a brochure, and a 70 mile drive to find out. Prices are often high, but then lowered to cut the salesperson out of the deal a day or so later.

For those two reasons, I always ring the clients to confirm interest before seeing them, and never give details of the quote to the company, so either I get a commission or the have to do the work all over again.

Any company not happy with my two rules can do their leads themselves.

 

[Mike Godwin]

We are in the service industry and the biggest challenge is trying to get potential customers to look for 'value for money' as opposed to the 'cheapest' price. Most people make vfm choices in their day to day lives but that often goes amiss when they're choosing a supplier in their work environment. I am always reminded by an old saying I picked up back in the 80's - "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten".

 

[DexG]

Sell more than what you were expecting to sell in that timeframe!

So here we are getting to a typical issue, time management. How do you make sure you sell more within that timeframe?

 

[MBE2017]

So here we are getting to a typical issue, time management. How do you make sure you sell more within that timeframe?

You assume it is a time management issue, in reality normally it is unrealistic targets set by people who do not sell. I can never understand why so many companies make this silly mistake, it stops them making money, requires a lot of recruitment and training to replace decent people fed up who go elsewhere.

When recruiting I use my results as a base for sales figures, and can prove they are all attainable.

 

[DexG]

Unfortunately they way you do it is more the exception than the rule. I like that! Say you do put a realistic quota and the sales guy does not make it. What stops her/him from making it?

 

[Mr D]

Unfortunately they way you do it is more the exception than the rule. I like that! Say you do put a realistic quota and the sales guy does not make it. What stops her/him from making it?

Multiple reasons.

Simply luck - a string of 'no' responses above average.
Laziness
Lack of ambition
Dealing with the wrong people - more than once have come across salesmen trying to get a shop manager to buy stuff when its head office deciding what to buy.
Trying to sell the wrong thing. Ever come across sales managers that want xxx pushed this week and your customer simply isn't interested in that?
Stabbed in the back by other sales staff.

 

[MBE2017]

Unfortunately they way you do it is more the exception than the rule. I like that! Say you do put a realistic quota and the sales guy does not make it. What stops her/him from making it?

Personally I would say attitude and effort. Put the work in, with the right attitude and he should replicate my results over time. Some weeks he might be better, others myself, but it should average out.

As for the first excuse from Mr D above, I don’t believe in luck.

I was training three new guys recently, and had an established salesman with myself teaching them the ropes. The management knew they were about to walk since they were not earning good money.

I explained how they should work out their daily weekly targets for themselves to earn their minimum required money to stay. Then asked them for the figures. They answered “I hope to sell, 15, 18, 20 per day”

I then told them they were all wrong, asked my established guy what his target was to explain the difference between the right and wrong way to answer. He simply answered “ I will sell 25 today”, which he did, plus some.

 

[Mr D]

Personally I would say attitude and effort. Put the work in, with the right attitude and he should replicate my results over time. Some weeks he might be better, others myself, but it should average out.

As for the first excuse from Mr D above, I don’t believe in luck.

I was training three new guys recently, and had an established salesman with myself teaching them the ropes. The management knew they were about to walk since they were not earning good money.

I explained how they should work out their daily weekly targets for themselves to earn their minimum required money to stay. Then asked them for the figures. They answered “I hope to sell, 15, 18, 20 per day”

I then told them they were all wrong, asked my established guy what his target was to explain the difference between the right and wrong way to answer. He simply answered “ I will sell 25 today”, which he did, plus some.

You don't have to believe in luck, it just happens.
Can stack the deck, stack it a lot sometimes. But still chance happens - good luck or bad luck as people see it.

 

[DexG]

Multiple reasons.

Simply luck - a string of 'no' responses above average.
Laziness
Lack of ambition
Dealing with the wrong people - more than once have come across salesmen trying to get a shop manager to buy stuff when its head office deciding what to buy.
Trying to sell the wrong thing. Ever come across sales managers that want xxx pushed this week and your customer simply isn't interested in that?
Stabbed in the back by other sales staff.

The product we have to get rid of because.... Yes I have to push that down sometimes as well, however I check which customers have we offered and sold this before after which I ask the sales people to contact them.

Personally I would say attitude and effort. Put the work in, with the right attitude and he should replicate my results over time. Some weeks he might be better, others myself, but it should average out.

As for the first excuse from Mr D above, I don’t believe in luck.

I was training three new guys recently, and had an established salesman with myself teaching them the ropes. The management knew they were about to walk since they were not earning good money.

I explained how they should work out their daily weekly targets for themselves to earn their minimum required money to stay. Then asked them for the figures. They answered “I hope to sell, 15, 18, 20 per day”

I then told them they were all wrong, asked my established guy what his target was to explain the difference between the right and wrong way to answer. He simply answered “ I will sell 25 today”, which he did, plus some.

Besides attitude and effort, do you think confidence plays a part in this as well?

I do believe in luck, but you should not think like it. What I mean by that is, you should not think like: "one day it will happen".

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Know the product and be yourself
Too much B/S gets pumped into the art of selling and that is why they are so many poor results .
You have to be a good sales person it is not a job for everybody and there are many failures as a result of the wrong people, attempting to do the job
#knowyouronions

If you are selling pallets and pallets of alcohol based sanitizer hand this week I predict that you should easily become sales person of the week !

Hope this helps

 

[MBE2017]

You don't have to believe in luck, it just happens.

Maybe I put it across badly, obviously there is the occasional bad luck and good luck, but from a sales point of view it averages out over time. Good salespeople tend to make their own luck, I call it effort, attitude, confidence, others might call it something else.

The good salespeople perform across the year, not just the odd lucky week.

 

[Mr D]

Maybe I put it across badly, obviously there is the occasional bad luck and good luck, but from a sales point of view it averages out over time. Good salespeople tend to make their own luck, I call it effort, attitude, confidence, others might call it something else.

The good salespeople perform across the year, not just the odd lucky week.

Oh indeed, if it is actually chance then over time will be neither good nor bad.
And yes, setting things up to seize opportunity can help deal with something that comes along.

Some will sit there waiting for calls to come in from customers. Some will be proactive and call customers, building relationships for the future.

 

[DexG]

Couldn't agree more Mr. D and MBE2017!

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]

We don't sell products, we sell the company.

Once we've got the customer on board with how we deal with issues, i.e. we react and solve the issues... the customer will pretty much buy whatever we have to sell.

In the shop, it's a little bit different... we sell the product based upon the customers needs... if someone wants a padlock for a shed, we sell them a padlock for a shed and not a padlock that's best suited for a palisade gate... then we've earned the trust from the customer and they always come back.

 

[Aleksander_Gramm]

My mistake is not sell

 

[antropy]

We don't sell products, we sell the company.

Very good approach. This is very good soft selling skills as the client buys into your ethos of how the company is run and ultimately how the relationship will help them. Alex

 

[Aleksander_Gramm]

>We don't sell products, we sell the company.
It seems inspiring but you sell what people buy.

Sometimesa company's sales points make sense, sometime you need to sell a product. There is no an universal approach.

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]

>We don't sell products, we sell the company.
It seems inspiring but you sell what people buy.

Sometimesa company's sales points make sense, sometime you need to sell a product. There is no an universal approach.

Actually, we don't... people buy into our companies ethos, has stated by @antropy - they're buying into our beliefs, and our services... the product is just a security product... we sell products that people can buy cheaper on the internet if they shop around... but not everyone has the tools or even the knowledge of how to install the products or use the products, therefore they're buying into us and not a product.

We could just be selling our service of a take over of an existing system that is in place... we won't need to supply any products, unless there's a faulty unit on site... but until this happens... they've still only bought the service from the company and no product has been installed.

 

[Aleksander_Gramm]

Actually, we don't... people buy into our companies ethos, has stated by @antropy - they're buying into our beliefs, and our services... the product is just a security product... we sell products that people can buy cheaper on the internet if they shop around... but not everyone has the tools or even the knowledge of how to install the products or use the products, therefore they're buying into us and not a product.

We could just be selling our service of a take over of an existing system that is in place... we won't need to supply any products, unless there's a faulty unit on site... but until this happens... they've still only bought the service from the company and no product has been installed.

Or as academic marketers like to say "People buy result, not a product/service".
Our clients want websites but pay for working hours of web developers. Our developers produce a code. What do we sell?

One of our client bought a high level of confidence, somebody bought a creativity of our web designer and an experience of our UX designer. Somebody chose our agency because we'd offered a low price. So, we sell what our clients want to buy

 

[antropy]

Sometimesa company's sales points make sense, sometime you need to sell a product. There is no an universal approach.

It depends on whether you are selling a service or a product at the end of the day. Alex

 

[Aleksander_Gramm]

It depends on whether you are selling a service or a product at the end of the day. Alex

I agree. But it depends on a segment of your audience.
We have two big segments of clients: 1) business owners 2) web agencies (UK, USA). We sell services (web design, web development, SEO) to agencies. We sell a result (can be understood as a product that pepends on client's purpose) to business owners.
Of cource, it is a liitle bit more difficult than I've described here.

That is why it is so important to understand the target audience and to segment it. This approach allows create selling points to sell.

 

[DexG]

Actually, we don't... people buy into our companies ethos, has stated by @antropy - they're buying into our beliefs, and our services... the product is just a security product... we sell products that people can buy cheaper on the internet if they shop around... but not everyone has the tools or even the knowledge of how to install the products or use the products, therefore they're buying into us and not a product.

We could just be selling our service of a take over of an existing system that is in place... we won't need to supply any products, unless there's a faulty unit on site... but until this happens... they've still only bought the service from the company and no product has been installed.

Wouldn't you agree that you have to sell yourself first and after that the company?

 

[fisicx]

Wouldn't you agree that you have to sell yourself first and after that the company?

No, because I’m most cases the person doesn’t matter. Personnel change but the company keeps going.

 

[SillyBill]

All sorts can sell, I agree the best bet is to be yourself. I do also believe in chance as I've definitely had a few "right places right times". I've literally "won" £250k accounts by picking up the phone, I don't need to promote my self-importance from those ones. Sometimes you fall into business. The law of averages ultimately works out over time though and you'll see where you are at. Unfortunately some don't get much time at all.

I've always felt at a massive advantage over employed sales persons as an owner whose job is sales. For one the only "pressure" I am under is the mere pressure of supporting a few dozen people and their families as the only sales guy in the business! In all seriousness I reckon that is less than the pressure than a employed salesperson is under having to deal with someone on his back all the time - I've never had that and probably wouldn't last 2 minutes. I reckon I sell and sell well (like to think) because of the freedoms I can give myself. I don't answer to a spreadsheet each month. I can be flexible and make decisions to help customers fast as I can make the call, no calling back at the office to see if I can get permission to overnight something at our cost to get the sale through. So having some decision making ability and the independence as a sales person really helps for me. For a lot of reasons that is probably not good business nor possible if you have a team of sales guys.

My sales approach is technical/helpful too and I'd describe myself as an introvert who really likes people. So being on the road for a lot of time is actually the perfect job, I'm by myself 80% of the day and the other 20% I can have a good cup of tea and natter for a couple of hours with some interesting people. In a lot of cases perhaps as little as 5% of what we discuss will be business (depends on the person the other side of the table, I take their lead), I hopefully leave a good impression and I usually just sit back and watch the calls/e-mails land when they need something. It is a simple formula for me.