Salty Over Lost Sales?

Let’s face it, we can’t convert every prospect to a client. We’re trained to eat the “no’s”. But who do we blame when the deal goes awry?  Is it the obtuse prospect who can’t see the apparent value you’re bringing to the table? Or do you walk away feeling inept due to your own inadequacies as a salesperson? The latter is an obvious attitude killer which often steers us into faulting the customer as a trick we play on ourselves in order to maintain our “good attitude”. But any true professional should see that for the trap it really is. If we allow ourselves to slip into the egotistical attitude of perfection where anyone who chooses not to do business with us is a foolish simpleton, we prevent ourselves from the ability to reflect on our skillset as a professional and as Stephen Covey would say, “sharpen the saw”. 

Outside of a career in sales I’ve been known to enjoy playing poker fairly regularly. And while I’m a much better salesperson than poker player, playing poker taught me an invaluable lesson that I’ve been able to apply in my insurance career. If I wanted to improve my game and not lose all my money playing poker, I was going to have to commit to studying my game and being brutally honest about my findings. 

I couldn’t just blame a lost hand on my opponent getting lucky, and conversely I couldn’t just accept my winnings as credible results of my amazing poker face. I had to examine each interaction and each decision closely, looking for errors in thinking that aided in the end result, win or loss. Granted there are instances where there was nothing I could’ve done; I did everything right, and still lost, but it wasn’t until I committed to impartial contemplation of my game that I noticed a shift in my win rate.

In a complete poker hand, with stories being told on both sides of the argument, there exists a back and forth of offers and counter offers where decision making is crucial; and the same holds true in sales. Through questions and answers all surrounding a value proposition, you work to move your prospect to your intended destination, making all types of decisions along the way. Thus to develop your skillset and improve your closing rate as a salesperson you must take time to look deep into these interactions and find the moments in the sales process where you lost control.

Was it something you said or didn’t say? Could you have asked a better question? Is your presentation lacking some element? Could you have listened better? Are you weak on a specific objection? Whatever the case may be, you can overcome any skillset deficit simply by recognizing the weakness through honest reflection of your interactions in the process, and seeking to improve upon it. 

Tony Robbins was quoted as saying, “Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.” Taking the time to review your actions and communications for flaws is the practice of asking yourself these better questions, and doing so will not only enhance your sales chops, but will increase your self-awareness and promote a deeper degree of learning. This more rooted learning will provide you an innate ability to respond intelligently and professionally when the moment arrives, boosting confidence, and ultimately helping you close more sales.

Set aside a bit of time at the end of the day, and consider every conversation you had with your prospects, starting with the missed opportunities, and ask yourself where you lost control. Remember to be brutally honest about what you discover, because you cannot resolve a flaw in your game if you don’t first recognize it. In this age of information there is no shortage of blogs, guides, books, videos and mentors at your fingertips where you can seek out solutions to your analysis, but in the end it’s up to you to put in the effort. But if you practice this with fervor and integrity, you’ll develop a more authentic attitude about yourself and your interactions with prospects, gaining perspective that will more easily prevent attitude loss, and more importantly help you convert more clients.