Interesting Data from recent research breaks out a Sales Reps biggest mistakes from the viewpoint of a customer. One hundred and thirty eight customers were interviewed and the results were as follows:
Don’t follow up – 17%
Don’t listen to needs – 18%
Don’t follow companies buying process – 26%
Are pushy and aggressive – 12%
Don’t explain their solutions – 10%
Make inaccurate claims – 10%
Don’t understand the business or vertical – 4%
Act too familiar – 3%
Don’t know or respect competition – 2%
Other – 2%
In our experience not enough salesman treat sales as a vocation. It’s not good enough to just be able to “sell”. For example iff you are selling products into the Financial Services Sector then you need people who know the “space” – put another way, people who can “talk the talk and walk the walk” – who know their way around and understand the challenges faced.
Like any vocation, applied training, and adhering to a successful repeatable process has its own rewards.
