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10 Reasons Why Some Sales People Fail While Others Succeed

Guest post by: Terri Levine

Article Overview: Ever wondered why some people succeed so easily at sales while others struggle? Here are ten main reasons why the unsuccessful sales people are failing.

10 Reasons Why Some Sales People Fail While Others Succeed

The sales profession is one in which marked differences in success are obvious, even to an untrained eye. So why do some sales professionals enjoy successful and profitable careers, while others struggle miserably?

Here are ten of the most common reasons why sales people are likely to fail -

1. Poor "Self Talk" and Poor Image

"I'm just a sales person." "I'm no good at sales." "I can't do it." "I'm only doing this job while I wait for an opening in my ‘real' choice of occupation."

Many people in sales set themselves up for failure right from the start with their own poor ‘self talk'. They belittle their position, or they have no faith in their ability. They lack confidence. They put themselves down. They're almost ashamed to say they are in Sales. They equate Sales with ‘con-artistry'.

The most successful sales people are those who have a strong believe in themselves and their chosen profession. They are proud of their ability and their profession. They seek ways to improve their abilities so they can stay on top of their game.

2. No Enthusiasm

Another reason sales people fail is because they simply lack the passion for what it is they are selling. If they are not interested or enthusiastic, why should you, the would-be buyer, be interested!?

Maybe you are in an industry that has a lot of competition and your competitors sell the same or similar product for the same or less. Your job is to show the advantage your product has over your competition's product. What is unique and special about YOUR product? Why should anybody buy YOUR product instead of your competitor's product? You need to identify that and explain it with enthusiasm! Many sales professionals do not know what advantage their product has over the competition's. Your job, then, is to find out.

3. Attitude

This goes hand-in-hand with the above. In my experience, I find those sales professionals with a positive attitude do better than those without. How can you be enthusiastic without a positive attitude?

You need to learn how to control your own mental state of being... your emotions. If you cannot turn your own attitude around, how do you hope to persuade would-be customers? If you can control your own attitude, you stand a very good chance at being able to influence the attitudes of others.

4. This is Basic... What's to Learn?!

There are many different facets to the art of Sales and Selling. It does require a certain set of skills and it does require effort on your part. Where many sales professionals go wrong is in thinking that all it takes is effort. Obviously, if sales success depended purely on effort alone, anybody could do it and would be successful.

If you spend many hours doing the wrong things over and over to make one sale per day, it doesn't matter whether you increase the hours you do this - you will not increase your sales. On the other hand, if you look at the ways in which your efforts can be more productive and effective, you may find yourself selling more in less time than it used to take.

How much time do you spend looking at the true effectiveness of your efforts? Do you think about how you can do things better and be more effective? Do you take responsibility for your career and read books, listen to tapes, attend courses and seminars on selling skills to enhance your ability? Also, successful Sales professionals never forget the basics. It's all well and good to incorporate sophisticated techniques into your sales practice, but these alone will not do the job. They merely enhance and improve upon the ‘basics' that still must be employed for successful outcomes.

5. There's no New Customers!

This is a no-brainer... If you want to make more sales, you have to present your products and services to more people. One of the problems sales people have is not knowing how to generate new sales leads.

Super successful sales professionals do their own lead generation and don't rely solely on what snippets their company offers them. They know who their ideal client is and build and maintain a system for managing their leads and contacts.

Successful sales people have systems in place to generate their own leads and follow up, they know the best ways to make contact, and they have a record of results so they know what will and won't work with each customer.

6. Selling is One-Off?

Another mistake sales people make is in thinking of sales as one off experiences. Their focus is on making the sale and then they forget about the customer and wonder why there is no return business.

Successful sales professionals know that first you have to build the relationship and maintain it. You may meet a customer one day who does not want to buy your widget, but if you develop a trusting relationship with this person, down the track when they want to buy a widget, who do you think they'll go to? You or a stranger? It's up to you to not be the stranger. So one of the greatest skills of successful sales people is establishing great relationships.

7. Selling - not Serving.

The difference between a great sales professional and a mediocre sales person is in the understanding that they are serving, not selling.

While the mediocre sales people are out there doing their practiced sales speeches and telling their customers all about their widgets, the super successful sales people are out there asking the smart questions to find out what it is their client wants and needs... so they can deliver it! Too often sales people are telling customers how the machine can do this and that and it only costs this, etc., and the customer is left wondering, yes, but how does that help me?

If you come on heavy-handed and act like the stereotypical sales person who must make the sale or their family doesn't eat that week, you will frighten customers away. Nobody likes to be "sold". Don't think "What can I sell you?" Think "How can I serve you?"

8. "Close the Sale"

Placing the emphasis on closing the sale is not an effective sales skill. Trying to close a sale when the moment is not right can lose you not only the sale but also the client.

A successful sale has a lot to do with timing. Poor sales people will try to sell at any time, appropriate or otherwise. Have you ever been to a party or function like a wedding, for example, and had somebody try to sell you something?

The important thing to remember in any situation is forget the "hard sell" and never be pushy.

9. Sloppy Work Ethics

Successful sales people not only have high standards and are people of integrity, they also set goals for themselves and take steps towards achieving their goals and keep records. They don't rest on their laurels. If they don't have a busy week mapped out, they spend their ‘spare' time looking for ways to increase their client base, they make calls and keep in contact with existing and potential customers. Both their company and their customers can rely on them.

10. Don't Kid Yourself

In some respects, there is not a lot of difference between the unemployed person who dreams of winning Lotto one day so he doesn't bother to look for work, and a Sales Person who isn't very successful today, but watch out next week... that's when they'll meet their "big client" and close the big one! This kind of thinking never achieved anything.

While you are waiting for "the big one", get to work. Dreaming big dreams is important, but the dream alone will not do it. You do have to do something yourself to make the dream a reality. Successful sales people don't kid themselves. They have their goals for each day and do what they must do to accomplish them.

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Article Tags: sales, success, training



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