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The 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective Salespeople

Written by: Phil Glosserman

Article Overview: The 7 harmful habits that hold people back in their business-development efforts and kill sales.

The 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective Salespeople

The 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective Salespeople
By Larry Pinci & Phil Glosserman

In coaching and training thousands people, we've identified 7 harmful habits that hold people back in their business-development efforts and kill sales. Warning: Having even one of these habits is a roadblock to achieving your potential in business. Do any of these sound familiar?

1. Verbal diarrhea – They spew out their offer, knowledge, or qualifications, leaving the buyer feeling un-listened to. It’s not about you—it’s about the person in front of you. Stop talking and listen.

2. OAD (Objection Avoidance Disorder) – They avoid objections because they erroneously believe they’re a sign of losing the sale. Always flush up and handle objections, or else you’ll flush down opportunities.

3. Referral Deferral – They hope business referrals will fall from the sky and drop into their lap, rather than asking for them directly. Ask your satisfied clients and customers for referrals.

4. Deal blindness – They’re so focused on the deal at hand, that they slow down or skip prospecting. Pace yourself to close deals while continuing to create possibilities for future ones.

5. Preparation Deprivation – They fail to prepare adequately for meetings. These days, anyone who doesn’t use the Internet and other available sources to find out everything about prospects and their companies is just plain sloppy…or lazy. Before every meeting, investigate your buyer, prepare your materials and questions, and put yourself in a positive, powerful, proactive state of mind.

6. Assumption Dysfunction – They assume their buyer’s wants, needs, and pain-points, rather than taking the time and care to find out. Most people resent being told what they want, need, or should do. Ask questions, listen for the need, and fill it.

7. Close-aphobia – They don’t know how or when to close, so they just keep talking or meeting, thinking that the sale will close itself. Recognize when to close, ask a closing question, shut up, and wait for a response.

There you have it: The 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective Salespeople. If you’re ready to master the art of influence and cultivate the most effective habits for bringing in business, read Sell the Feeling: The 6-Step System that Drives people to Do Business with You.

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Article Tags: 7 habits, assumption, avoidance disorder, blindness, business development efforts, business referrals, closing question, harmful habits, oad, objection, objections, possibilities, prospects, referral, roadblock, salespeople, sky, taking the time, verbal diarrhea



Related Forum Posts
Re: My 3 best business books - 1. Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey 3. Permission Marketing - Seth Godin Think and Grow Rich seems more powerful each time I read it or dip into it. The 7 Habits not only offers some very effective ways to organize your life (which I have yet to master!), but also some great quotations and thought provoking statements including this by Nazi concentration camp survivor, Viktor Frankl: [i:2naxzsom]Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose.[/i:2naxzsom] Seth Godin's Permission Marketing is a good read for anybody seeking to understand how to approach doing business on the Internet in the right way with regard to winning people's trust.
Re: Money Does Not Guarantee Happiness - Thanks for singling this point out, Chris. One book that comes to mind that covers it in an overall approach is "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. He addresses our inner life and the way it can change our effectiveness home and at work. There are corporations who have taken this model and effectively molded their business around it.
Re: What I'm reading this weekend - Sept 10, 2010 - Glad you liked it David! I only managed to get partway through the list today because my one year old was looking for some playtime but I did read the Zen Habits one - I love reading Zen Habits while relaxing at a coffee shop!
Re: What I'm reading this weekend - Sept 10, 2010 - I was also interested in the Zen Habits affiliate programme as it might mix well with my business/japan blog...
Why A Project Fails? - Hello Everyone As the size and complexity of ones business grows, so does their need to effectively manage projects. I have been thinking about the major reasons why a project can go wrong and my limited experience comes up with the following. 1 Leadership: A project manager with leadership skills and not just management skills. 2 Failure to (Foresee and) Plan 3 Failure to Manage: Ineffective change management control methods. Unclear decision making guidelines. 4 Talent: Finding, allocating and developing people 5 Scope: Setting an overly ambitious or amibigious project scope 6 Alignment: When projects are not prioritized in alignment with the business strategy, or project members personal objectives are not in tandem with that of the project / company 7 Lack of Candor: Communication Breakdowns I would be interested in knowing everyone's thoughts on this, especially on ways to overcome the above mentioned obstacles. Cheers!


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