You’ve noticed that your team’s numbers aren’t meeting quota. The deals have been smaller and smaller (if they happen at all). How can you get to the root of your team’s problem? Watch out for these five bad sales habits and learn how you can tactically get your team onto the right track.
The role of the seller has changed in a world where almost all information is available online. It’s not enough to know and show what your product or service does. To succeed in sales, you need to understand how your product or service can best serve the customer. What do they need? What are their objectives? How can your product or service help your customer achieve their goals?
Anyone can take orders. A demand-creating seller generates sales opportunities where none existed before. When you wait for orders to roll in, you’re already falling behind. It’s not simply a matter of selling harder; it’s an active process that starts with discovering new needs that are meaningful to the buyer. The solutions to those needs must then be communicated in a compelling way.
A good seller is adept at reading his audience. Be alert to signals that your buyer is ready to close. They may be subtle, such as, “How long does it take to deliver?” If your customer is ready to make a deal, stop selling immediately. Even if you have more information to deliver, you’ll have other opportunities to interact with the buyer.
Have you done the homework to know exactly what your customer truly values? Expected value is merely what the customer wants. It is not exciting, but it is required. Delivering unexpected value allows you to transcend what the customer wants, making you and your company more strategically value-centric, rather than product-centric.
Many sellers operate with a distinct lack of information about competitors. This binds a seller’s hands when it comes to formulating strategy. In some cases, sellers are not aware of who they’re competing with for an opportunity.
You must know how your solution and company differ from the competition to plan your strategy. Your strategy has one purpose: to advance your superiority to win.
If these habits seem familiar to you, it’s time to replace them with winning sales habits. One particularly effective way to achieves this is through the Holden Adaptive Platform. When you use this adaptive approach to sales training, your team will get ongoing lessons and practice to better understand:
If you want to learn more about bad habits and how to remedy them, download our new eBook: “The Ten Worst Habits of Sales People.”