Does Your Sales Team Get It?
George Mancuso
Dedicated to Aligning Exceptional, Industry-Specific Professionals with Distinguished Companies for 38+ Years | Strategic, Data-Driven & Precise Talent Placement for a Seamless Integration of Skills & Corporate Culture
I recently completed a “sales post Mortem” for a national company after they lost a huge sale. The sales team assured the Executive team that “this one was in the bag” when in fact, it was far from the truth. So, they hired me to meet with the prospect to find out why they did not buy, thus the term, “sales post Mortem.” After meeting with the decision-making team about their concerns and from my report to the client, here are some of the prolific reasons why they lost the sale.
This could be a great learning piece for us all.
1. They pushed for the appointment which we gladly gave them. But once here they did nothing to motivate me to meet with them again
2. We did not believe they had an interest in what “we” were trying to accomplish
3. We felt they saw us as strictly a buyer or someone to sign the order
4. They truly came here with an agenda but the agenda was theirs and not ours
5. It was obvious they had taken all the right classes on how to get to prospects and get around gate keepers, in fact they even bragged about it, which was offensive to us
6. They tried to find our hot buttons and when they think they had they kept pushing them over and over
7. They were just out of sync with our needs
8. They could have learned more about us before they walked through the door while trying to close a multi-million-dollar contract
9. We know our sales people look for great leads every day. [WE] happened to be a great lead but they did not spend time cultivating the lead, understanding us, and communicating [THEIR] capabilities to match [OUR] needs
10. They were not customer driven, they were sales quota driven
Folks let me tell you these 10 points have a great deal of commonality. Listening, communicating, problem solving, integrity, honesty and of course LISTENING before you go for the close. This team could have made this sale and the close would have or could have come from the prospect saying, “by golly I believe you’ve got it and we’ll take it.”
A Post Note to This Story: The prospect was impressed enough that the company cared about their business to send me in to find out why and see what they could do better, that they in fact got a second chance at another project and although smaller in nature than the first, they ended up with a contract.
Fractional General Counsel & COO @ Essential Counsel | Certified Advanced Negotiation Master | Legal & Business Solutions for Family-Owned & Privately Held Companies in Colorado, Florida, Arizona, Wisconsin
7 年Further evidence that negotiation and the related sales experience is a process. In the scenario, the sales reps focus on a one-time event of "the sale" rather than the process of a meaningful, sustainable relationship. Pre-sale includes the reps learning customer interests and brainstorming what solutions might be offered for the customer, with refinement at the meeting using active listening and learning. George presents common points applicable to any setting from pure customer service to service/product development, which illustrates the importance of consistent application and execution of an organizational negotiation strategy focused on solving problems from the customer's perspective.
Dynamic Operations Professional: General Manager, Plant Manager, Director Operations. Proven performance leadership, aligning teams to execute strategies and initiatives that drive efficiency, growth, and value.
7 年Excellent post! Great information for the entire organization.