10 Reasons Why Sales Managers Lose their Jobs

Watching The Apprentice last night I really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Cry because if that’s typical of the standard of selling across the country then UK PLC has got a problem of no small proportions.

Why laugh then? Because if those sales skills demonstrated last night are typical, then I know my company will be expanding at a vast rate of knots as we turn sales frogs into princes.

Of course it probably (hopefully) isn’t typical of the nations selling skills. It’s TV, It’s Big Brother in suits, it’s not real life.

But you know I do worry about poor selling standards I see and am subjected to – and cringe at the lost conversions, lost revenues, lost profits that result.

After 14 years of The Sales Consultancy getting called into improve companies’ sales, experience suggests there’s a good chance your team could be off the standard required. That’s why I list below my 10 Reasons Why Sales Managers Lose Their Jobs. Check you and your team against these common mistakes in sales.

Nobody does it on purpose, everybody’s busy. Of course. But if you’re losing sales, you’re losing revenue, you’re losing profits. And you need to do something about it.

After all – it’s not the best time to be looking for work is it?

Check yourself and/or your team against these common mistakes...

Mistake No 1
Not having clear sales goals in the first place
Whether it’s a campaign, implementing an annual strategy, a given month, a week, a day a meeting , a cold call – there’s a distinct lack of goals and outcome focus. This means a lack of direction right from the start. Sorry – but if you don’t know what the ultimate aim is of all sales activity you carry out, how will you ever know if you’re on the right track?

Mistake No 2
Procrastination
People are reluctant to start taking the action they need to achieve their objective, whatever the scale of the goal they have set. You need to take ACTION right now. Not ‘I’ll just finish this other job’ or I’ll just tidy my desk first’ or ‘Oh there’s not enough time to ring that person tonight’. Things drift, get delayed and all the time the competitors are making progress on their goals! The key? – finding out why people procrastinate!

Mistake No 3
Poor presentations to potential customers and clients
A one way pitch from you is likely to work less and less these days. You might hit the target sometimes but often your words will not be engaging for them and in any case it’s too much of a one way communication from you. That’s not a connection, that’s a speech! There’s a way you can connect with EVERYONE you want to do business with. It’s easy to learn, massively effective and you need to know it.


Mistake No 4
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result
There’s often a distinct lack of new ideas at companies whose sales are stagnating or falling. Upon examination people are usually doing the same as before, but miraculously expecting a better result this time round. It’s not going to happen. The truth is the world of Sales and Marketing is changing faster than ever – leaving many companies behind. It’s your job to make sure your company keeps up.

Mistake No 5
Too much talking – not enough listening
Very common generally in business, extremely common in sales. Modern selling is not about pitching and overcoming objections, it’s about rapport and building connections in a whole new way. Watch your team during client and customer meetings – the chances are they’re doing most of the talking. Ouch! All that lost revenue! They should try listening more.

Mistake No 6
Not putting yourself in the customers/prospects shoes
It’s really easy to think about you, your company or how good your product or services are. That’s the issue, alongside making assumptions about the client and customer before the relationship begins. So no one bothers to find out what a customer or prospects REALLY wants next. Only when you truly understand what’s going on in their head, can you truly match it with your offering.

Mistake No 7
The wrong mindset
Many sales people dread cold calling, prospecting, power hours, whatever you want to call it. Result? Very ineffective calls of course. You need people who relish these calls. If you haven’t got them, you either need to change the people, or change the mindset. Change the mindset, it’s cheaper! And it’s achievable. How good would it be to have a team who looked forward to cold calling!

Mistake No 8
Not getting feedback from your customers
Hardly anyone gets proper feedback from customers. Sure the odd form gets filled in, but what are they really thinking?. LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN, then LISTEN some more. Your customers like you. That’s why they use you. Find out the reasons they use you then go find others that have the same buying criteria. Your customers will also tell you what you can do to make you even better to deal with. When was the last time you asked them?

Mistake No 9
The team lacks motivation
Or as sometimes happens some of them are motivated and some aren’t. Well they’re all different of course. What is one person’s fabulous incentive means nothing to their colleague. There’s a reason why that is, do you know it? Companies often have the wrong incentives, the wrong appraisals and the wrong reward systems and then are baffled why half the team are flat. This can be solved quickly and easily.

Mistake No 10
Not talking to the customers that stopped using you
When was the last time you talked with a lapsed customer? You absolutely must know the reason they went elsewhere or you’ll start losing other clients in exactly the same way. Many companies have no idea why particular clients stop using them.

Which of the above reasons are holding your sales back?.


Leigh Ashton has been successfully selling for 30 years and, having prospered through a recession or two, can help you get things moving at times like these. Leigh is not just a trainer, she still sells, networks and pitches for business. She makes it her business to keep businesses like yours up to date with the latest developments in sales and customer service.






Leigh Ashton

Are You Listening Out There

Listening

Listening is a vital skill that is often neglected and yet is crucial to your sales success.

Be aware of the five stages of effective listening and get into the habit of recognising and practising these stages;
1.Hearing – taking in the sound.
2.Listening – Really paying attention and trying to make sense of what you are hearing.
3.Understanding – Checking with the other person to make sure you have taken in what they said in the way they intended.
4.Acknowledging – letting the other person know you have heard and understood what they have said.
5.Responding – your response to what has been discussed.

On many occasions people go straight from stage 1 to stage 5! They jump to conclusions, miss information and leave the other person feeling misunderstood or ignored. Undoubtedly, ignoring stages 2 to 4 will cost you sales.

Learning to implement these stages naturally will rapidly enhance your listening skills and make you a much more effective sales professional.


Ask a question – then SHUT UP

When you ask open questions your client will go into dialogue to respond which gives you the opportunity to learn so much about them – and their issue.

•Forget yourself, focus on them
•Have no other agenda
•Have no external distractions ie incoming emails, other potentially interesting people in the room
•Let your client answer without interruption.
•Focus on listening 100% and not by your internal thoughts or dialogue.
•Thinking about the next question will stop you hearing useful information.
•The next question is easy when you listen – it comes naturally from your client’s response.

Remember - those golden nuggets of information you need to succeed may well be buried. Give them the time and attention they deserve.

•Listen to the choices of words they use – this is vital as you can tailor your own responses using the same or similar types of words.
•Tune in all your senses when listening.
•Listen with your heart – give everything to listening and you will gain greater levels of rapport and understanding with whoever you’re talking to.

When they have finished, leave a gap of a few seconds before you speak. On many occasions you will find the most crucial information follows after this short gap.

Enjoy practising the art of listening and enjoy the benefits to your business as you improve your listening skills.

Until next time

Leigh

Listening Skills - Further Reading