Why do some salespeople fail?

When I speak with business owners in the information destruction and records management industries, one of the biggest issues they face is finding the right sales professionals. Many business owners think hiring salespeople is like a “roll of the dice,” but it doesn’t have to be that way.

If we identify the main reasons some salespeople fail, we can help qualify the best candidates moving forward and put the right process in place to ensure their success. The 10 most common reasons salespeople fail are:

1. They don’t prospect effectively and spend valuable time with prospects who most likely will not be buying;
2. They lack proper training—sales superstars don’t happen by accident—just like athletics, sales takes practice;
3. They don’t use a consistent sales process and produce inconsistent results;
4. They try to persuade their prospects to buy their services using manipulative tactics that turn prospects off and creates sales resistance;
5. They talk too much in sales calls, making prospects feel disrespected and neglected (Top sales professionals invest at least 80 percent of their time listening to their prospects.);
6. They do “sales presentations” instead of finding out what their prospect really wants and why;
7. They neglect to determine their prospects’ decision making process and time frame and also spend too much time with staff other than the decision maker;
8. They try to close at the end of the sales process, while sales superstars start closing at the beginning of their sales process using a great line of questioning;
9. They learned the “old school” way of handling objections, which doesn’t work anymore (Top sales professionals eliminate most objections proactively with their sales process.); and
10. They lack guidance from management or are micro-managed—salespeople need a coach, not a manager. (Sales training is what’s needed to become a salesperson. Sales coaching is what’s needed to become a sales champion.)

Developing a step-by-step sales process can help eliminate these fatal errors. This process should keep the focus on the prospect or client, helping prevent a new salesperson from being a hiring gamble.

Ray Barry is vice president of Total Product Destruction and president of Total Training Services, which operates The Shred School in Spartanburg, S.C. Barry can be contacted at raybarry@totaltrainingservices.com or at 864-699-8417.