If your team is having trouble closing deals, you may want to reconsider how you train your team and what you are looking for in a salesperson the next time you go to hire. If your team is lagging, it may not be because the sales cycle is long, but because of the weaknesses of some sales representatives stopping them from even attempting to effectively. For some, it may be months, and for some, it make take a year of coaching practice before they can overcome their faults. But this article will change your perspective and give you some ideas on how to increase your sales team’s efficiency.
Things to avoid:
Missing the target audience:
Every business organization needs to see exactly what the business can do for its customers, either selling products or services. Depending upon this, they need to focus on targeting the right customers. For example, reaching to the wrong age group, gender, and irrelevant advertisement will not generate qualified leads who are actually interested in purchasing your product or service. The fix: Identify your target audience with the greatest specificity possible. Help your team understand who will benefit from your services before pursuing leads.
Engaging with bad prospects:
Some sales reps think they have to reach every prospect, thinking that every CRM prospect is good and hoping to catch something big. Instead of wasting time on less promising prospects, it's worth identifying and communicating with the best potential customers in the pipeline. There is nothing wrong with being a vendor at the core and seeing everyone as a prospective client. That demonstrates you're a key salesperson, but it also suggests a gross absence of focus. The fix: thoroughly document communication with leads to identify which qualified leads are ready to move forward in the sales process, and focus energy on converting those.
Lack of empathy:
As a business person, we always be focused on selling. This should be completely taken away from the mind of a sales person, as focusing on sales over relationship can damage your ultimate success. It's about placing yourself in their place to see: what do they think? What do they feel? Why do they have these ideas and emotions? Instead of trying to truly understand the needs or problems of the customer, some salespeople focus on closing the deal to the detriment of their relationship with the customer. However, building trust with customers and guiding them with the right solution is important. The fix: Have your salespeople engage with leads using empathy by trying to understand the customer’s issues and the type of solution they are looking for before moving to the next stage of the sales process.
Conclusion:
If you or your sales team struggle with the above traits, focus on creating a people-centric sales process that will improve your results. Know who your target audience is, pursue the most promising leads, and demonstrate empathy with potential clients to ensure the best results.