Stop Doing These 9 Insane Things Today and See Your Sales Increase
Laziness is running rampant in sales today. Maybe it’s just sheer ignorance or no one to show them what sales excellence is. I should know, I made some of those same mistakes myself over the past 25 years. I’ve managed and coached many others who believe taking the easy route is the best one. Claiming they were the most efficient salesperson on the team. Only to find out later that it does take some hard work to be really successful at sales.
I talk a lot about what it takes to be a high performer. But these crazy and insane things that salespeople do regularly, are killing sales. These are the table stakes. You need to stop doing them to even get invited to the table.
Let’s take a look at the Nifty 9:
1./Calling/emailing/texting without something to say
“Hey, have you heard from Joe at XYZ Corp yet? Why don’t you follow up with him and find out what’s going on?” Worst advice ever. First, there is no plan. What is it you are trying to accomplish? What is your objective and what would be deemed a success for a next step? So often, salespeople get stuck on the hamster wheel of activity. If I can show my boss I’m busy, then I’ll be okay. Well unfortunately, you will eventually be found out. Of course, this is not just your fault. Sales managers perpetuate these bad habits and practices as well. They fail to lead by example.
Do this instead:
- Reach out to fewer customers/prospects — decide your top accounts and do a deep dive of what problems/challenges you can solve for them
- Plan ahead — What is your reason for reaching out? What is a suitable next step and how to get your prospect to agree to it
- Decide what one piece of value you can provide to your customer each time you reach out
2./Lack of weekly planning and daily goals
Lack of planning results in wasting time or time that is simply not being used to generate sales. Salespeople spend less than 37% of their time actually selling. To become a true sales leader, we must protect our selling time, no excuses and say NO, more. Sales leadership also needs to do a better job of protecting their team’s time and removing the obstacles to selling.
Do this:
- Define your broader goals and outcomes so that you’re able to break that down into daily and weekly goals
- Reaffirm those goals and write down daily goals each day. What would you like to accomplish today (tie back to broader goals). Then execute. Nothing like checking off a list.
- Define your healthy motivation — Ask why. Why are you doing what you’re doing? Look for the broader impact you can have personally and professionally. This will keep you excited about moving forward each day. Secret: Money is not a long term motivator.
- Plan your week — I don’t recommend Sunday but you’re welcome to it. The weekend should be used to reset and recharge away from the demands of your job. Try Friday
3./Talking too much
In the past, I used to talk too much in front of the customer. Why? I was nervous. Other times, I thought I knew it all. The result was the same. The customer tuned out and lost interest. In addition, I lost credibility and trust with the client. I should have gotten the hint when they never called back. I lost sales because of it!
In addition, salespeople feel the need to pitch and they think that if they do it well enough, the customer will buy. They might also feel uncomfortable with dead air. You know, those moments when you hear nothing for way too long. So, salespeople fill it with their words.
Do this instead:
- Stop talking so much — try recording yourself with a prospect and see how much time you spend talking
- Use your great questioning skills to ask those impactful & conversational questions
- Actually listen and don’t try to formulate your response before they’ve finished answering — usually those initial thoughts are not going to serve you well
- Take a deep breath and clear your mind
- Go into the meeting with an idea of how you want to guide the conversation without giving the impression you are controlling it
4./Asking obvious questions
My 3rd grade teacher used to say, “There are no stupid questions.” That may have worked in elementary school but not in the real world of selling. The new stupid is asking obvious questions that you can and should have answers to all by doing a little research.
Do this instead:
- Take a look at their 10K (if public), website, social media profiles and postings, key players in the company, news/pr, etc. That way, you’ll have all of the basics and fundamentals so you are speaking from a position of confidence from preparation. Spend no more than 15 minutes per account (do it on off-peak times)
- Take time to plan out 5–7 insightful open ended questions that promote conversation. Keep the list small but powerful. Quantity is not the goal. You may only have 20–30 minutes, so make it count
- Look at their competitors and see what they may be doing well and different
5./Not Living up to your commitments
Do you know that by just doing this, you will separate yourself from the pack. Salespeople love to make promises they simply can’t keep. Only to look favorable and likeable in the short run to get a deal but when they fail to deliver, lose all trust.
Let’s say something does go wrong with your prospect or customer (it happens by no fault of our own); if you’ve developed that trust by living up to your commitments, then they will be much more forgiving when things go to hell as opposed to them bolting for your competitor.
Do this instead:
- Make promises you can keep
- Keep your promises you make
- Check with management, product development, customer success, whomever and understand what promises you can make when it comes to things like features, delivery, customer support, etc. Know your company’s limitations
6./Skipping steps in the process
Do you have a process? Internally, you may have one that has been passed down by management. Do you know if it works? If you’re not using it, how do you know? Some salespeople like to go off plan and do their own thing thinking it will be more effective. Start with what you have.
But let’s say you skip some fundamentals like demoing a product before even understanding their goals and what outcomes they’re looking for? Maybe you decide that the person you’re speaking to is the only decision maker. Only to find out later that Bob in IT should have been brought in earlier on.
Do this instead:
- Change your mindset to a buying process from a sales process. A sales process is something you do to someone else. A buying process is something you do together with the client based on how they like to buy
- For those customers that don’t know the internal steps to purchase, work with them to develop a joint plan. This requires you to understand what that may look like in order to achieve success
- Execute what exists, learn from others and test new ideas and see if it works even better (sales is always evolving)
7./Not nurturing prospects
This one really gets under my skin. There are plenty of leads that aren’t ready to buy today because they are probably too early on in the buying process. If you’re not proactively nurturing, you will lose deals. AND all you’ve done is spent time and money on generating leads that go to die. So how do you keep in touch and provide meaning and relevancy? Now is not the time to let up.
Do this instead:
- Work with marketing to repurpose content that your prospects will actually care about. Talk to marketing about what you are hearing from customers — challenges and opportunities
- Take time to map out your own nurturing program that delivers value at every step. Maybe it’s every week, every 2 weeks or every month. It does not have to be frequent but it needs to be consistent
- Maybe there are ways to get them more engaged with your brand that don’t seem salesy or pushy — webinars, events, podcast guest, guest blogger, and group communities
8./ Reading from a script
Are you still ready from a script? I am a fan of scripts but for only a short while. Why, because customers know when you are reading from a script and it sounds canned. You know the cliched telemarketer that reads from a script — boring and it tells the customer you simply don’t care.
I remember when people decided they were going to cheat on their test in high school and wrote answers on their hands and arms. Not so subtle. But I noticed that after they went through this painstaking process, they already knew their stuff.
Yes, use scripts. Once you know your stuff, you’ll sound like a competent and confident champ.
Do this:
- Create your script
- Practice and record yourself
- Eventually move to outlining your major points that you want to convey
- Be willing to jettison what is not working and use that experience to improve your outreach delivery
- Then, scrap the whole idea of scripts
9./ Comparing yourself to others
“Wow! Suzie is really crushing it. I wish I was too.” How many times have salespeople shared this with others (co-workers, family, friends)? What about the conversation we are having with ourselves? These thoughts lead to jealousy, anger, depression, lack of self confidence. Do you think these are going to serve you well? No. Plus it takes energy to feel this way and you have little left for more productive activities.
Do this instead:
- Know that you can crush it and are worthy of success
- Know that Suzie’s success is not of your business. But what is your business — learning what she is doing to reach high levels of success
- Start getting clear on what you want — YOUR goals. Look for meaningful outcomes that will drive you for success, not just intrinsic factors like money.
Wrapping It Up
If you are doing even one of these Nifty 9 insane things, stop it. You are losing trust, credibility and authority when it comes to dealing with customers. It is an erosion, day by day. Worse, you are losing opportunities to help more customers. Isn’t that what we are called to do in sales — help as many customers get what they want and do it as much as possible?
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Andy Carlton helps salespeople and sales teams become high performers. He has the accolades to prove it: over $55M in contracts, part of one of the fastest growing companies in the country as cited by INC Magazine, for 4 consecutive years, launched a marketing SaaS platform that was awarded Cisco Innovation Award, and sold to some of the most prominent CEO’s for the first e-commerce startup in commercial internet history. Andy’s mission is clear: to remove the mistakes of the overworked and stressed-out sales culture and replace it with one based on intention and healthy motivation. This has led to top performers who love what they do and get the highest results without brutal sales training tactics nor 12-hour daily grinds.
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