Why Do Salespeople Appear Pushy

The reality is that most sales reps mean well and have great hearts; there are certainly salespeople who are concerned about their commission more than the person sitting across from them.?But for the sake of this article, let′s examine why the salespeople who mean well still can come off as pushy without realizing it.

As I have worked for numerous companies in sales/sales management and consulted many software companies, I look back at what and how I learned to sell a company′s software or product.?It typically consists of mostly product training, reviewing features and benefits, competitor comparisons, and role plays.?Software companies are in love with their software and the demo, as they should be proud.

Companies, especially software companies, are experts on all the features and benefits their solution provides.?In fact, they even refer to it as a solution.?The holy grail I have seen in software sales is to get the prospect on a demo.?This typically consists of a slick deck presentation, followed by a software demo, then asking closing questions.?So, what is the problem with that?

If software is a solution, it′s important to understand if a problem even exists, if there is awareness it exists, how bad of a problem it is, and determining if the prospect is a qualified buyer or not.?People buy from emotions, they want to solve problems because they have frustration, fear, anger, uncertainty, or strong desires for happiness and relief.?This happens in the discovery process, which is where a majority of time should be spent-examining problems, causes, past solutions, what is working, what isn′t, what the future looks like if they change, etc.?But, traditional sales teaches to do some rapport building in the beginning, ask a couple questions, ?then go through the deck with an overview followed up with a software demo reviewing every module, feature and benefit methodically in presentation mode.? And what is this doing??This is PUSHING information, without truly understanding someone and if and how you can help, which appears PUSHY!

Plain and simple, the prospective buyer cares most about the problems they have and how you can help solve them or not. They don′t care about the other features and benefits that don′t apply to solving their problems you present in a deck or software demo.?

Therefore, if companies focused fifty percent or more of their time on how to properly uncover problems, or learn to realize there may not be a problem and teach their reps how to walk away, then their salespeople would not come off as pushy and get more referrals and help more people.? It′s obvious when a salesperson presents a deck versus having a conversation…crickets… no emotional connection, or you lose the connection you previously had… then talks for another thirty plus minutes spewing out features and benefits in the demo…no connections or losing them more, other than a couple oohs and ahhs, sometimes.?

How do we solve this and don′t come off as pushy??The sale is determined or not in the upfront in uncovering needs, desires, and problems.?Focus on how to do that best to really help someone, versus praying that something in the deck and demo will resonate with them and they will want to buy.?It comes down to caring and knowing best how to approach any opportunity, and if necessary to walk away because it is not the right fit. Have a two way conversation versus presenting. Be human, don′t go into presenter mode. This new way of selling will help you make a bigger impact, improve your closing percentages, and be seen as helpful, not pushy.