6 Reasons Salespeople Fail

Not every sales prospect can result in a win, but salespeople that continually find themselves failing to close deals may have to turn inwardly to consider why.

Whether they were unable to clinch a deal that that seemed like a sure thing or they consistently fail to meet their numbers, they may have the following six critical yet common mistakes to blame:

1. They Think That Sales Training Ends After College

Hanging your framed degree on a wall can be a deservedly proud moment, but sales education does not stop there. The business world is constantly advancing. So must sales tactics in response. In addition, new thought leadership constantly comes around, disrupting old practices we took for granted and introducing us to new, more effective ones.

Make sure you make the most of sales training resources available to you, including live webinars as well as informative articles like these available largely for free online.

2. They Don’t Coordinate with Marketing or PreSales

To truly be effective, marketing and sales have to be perfectly aligned. Otherwise, the sales team will fail to present the most attractive selling points baked into a product by a marketing team, who will also align the product to fit the needs of certain prospective buyers. On the flip side, a marketing team that does not address the product shortcomings revealed during the sales process will doom a product to failure.

As a sales team member, you must also keep in mind the work your presales and demo team put in towards cultivating early leads. The last thing you want are dissonant claims or brand promises.

3. They Insist on “Selling” Rather Than Listening

A good salesperson always listens to what their lead’s concerns and biggest main points are. They must then tailor their sales approach to these details. Without this call-and-response, the rep appears tone deaf and unempathetic to the needs of their prospect.

4. They Didn’t Put in the Research for Their Lead or Their Market

Imagine getting blindsided by a statement similar to this one: “Brand X has a similar product, but it has these additional features and costs half as much. Tell me why I should go with you.”

Chances are good that Brand X cannot quite offer the moon on a stick as they promised your lead, but you must still be aware of what makes your product more beneficial to your prospect than the most common market leaders. To do so, study up on your lead’s unique concerns as well as any alternatives they could consider on the current market.

5. They Were Inconsistent with Their Follow Through

No one likes being pestered by a sales rep, but being brushed off by one is even worse. Make sure that after you give leads the chance to nurture themselves you touch base with them a few days or weeks into the future. Otherwise, you could have a warmed up lead that goes cold again.

6. They Lacked the Knowledge to Close the Deal or Get Past a Critical Point

The strategies you need to get a prospect’s attention are vastly different than the ones needed to close the last few legs of a deal. Make sure that you are prepared to handle every step of the sales process from start to finish.

You can make the transition between steps easier by exploring the latest in video sales platforms, such as our 2Win! Bridge software. Host compelling sales videos, connect your leads to the exact information they want to hear and track their activities to give you insight into their unique persona.

With this strategy and the ones above, you can reduce the number of sales failures and achieve new heights of success in 2017 and beyond.