What NOT to do in sales is just as valuable to know as what TO do. Yet sales leaders are not always in agreement about the best way to move ahead. Recently I found two articles that share, in my opinion, terrible advice. And I want you to be on the watch for misinformation like this.
Titles That Don't Deliver Show You What Not To Do In Sales
First, we have a piece entitled "Top Sales Techniques to Revolutionize Your Business". Sounds good, right? But the first thing the writer does is start talking about "the" sales process--as if there was only one!--and how well-known it is.
Believing there is only one sales process is a huge example of what not to do in sales.
We could swiftly begin by separating sales processes into the traditional features-and-benefits style and the consultative approach. Two right there. The fact is, though, that each company has its very own sales process. Many of them don't even have their process written down. They don't understand it. Their process is sloppy and undocumented, but by golly that baby is their baby...and even if they don't consciously know it, they're following its every wild twist and turn.
In short, there are millions of sales processes.
So don't tell me only one exists, and it's "well understood".
The initial of four "techniques" merely shows the author's lack of having worked with a true sales coach. "Get off my back and leave me alone!" is the cry of the front line salesperson, not a sales leader. And it demonstrates that in the author's experience, close supervision of performance according to quotas rather than behaviors has been the norm.
The only thing this writer does get right is the fact that sales training is an ongoing process. You won't get much from a one-time shot in the arm. Which leads us to our next bad sales article.
What Not To Do In Sales Training
"Train Your Sales Team This Afternoon" this author exclaims. Wow. And this is from a sales training outfit.
Expecting a magic return from a single short investment in training is another big example of what not to do in sales.
Was this article promoted by a slowdown in business? They of all people ought to know better. You cannot get very far at all in one sales training session. If you've been following my commentary, you know that ongoing reinforcement is an absolute requirement for sales success. Otherwise, the salesperson falls back into their old comfort zone and results.
The only possible plus I could take from this article is that it may get a company doing something about sales training...and something is slightly better than nothing.
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I'm ill, but it was worth it. I learned how to see bigger opportunities in business.
Successful women in sales usually have to fight to get there. I remember the first high-performing saleswoman I met. It was just heading into the later 1990s at the start of my career. She was a rep for a generator manufacturer. We're talking about the part of a power plant that takes mechanical energy and turns it into electricity. Like many other industries the powergen field is dominated by males. Sylvie was nice, but as a consequence of having to prove herself, she was also tough.