Why Salespeople Fail to Make Needed Changes

Guest post by: Dave Kurlan
Become an Author

Free PDF Download
Salespeople Must Stop Snorkeling and Start Scuba Diving - By Dave Kurlan

I recently paid a visit to the men's restroom (more comfortable in that one) where I saw Steve, our building maintenance man, on the floor repairing the sensor that automatically turns the water on and off. About 90 minutes later (right on schedule), I was back and shocked to see Steve still down there on the floor. I asked what was taking so long and he said, "Well it works just fine when it's not connected to the faucet but when I reconnect it the darn thing stays broken!"

Just like salespeople!

If your salespeople are going through any kind of up-to-date sales training or coaching, then they know they're supposed to ask questions and resist presenting company or product features and benefits. In the classroom they get it. In the classroom they can do it. In a coaching session it works. But as soon as you plug them in to a real sales call, by phone or in person, they revert to being obsolete.

Just like the faucet, it will work in time. The key is, as with Steve, you can't give up. You must keep plugging away, reinforcing the new thoughts, questions, behaviors and expectations until they become natural. In most companies, the training and coaching just isn't frequent enough, comprehensive enough or effective enough. Then, when it doesn't seem like it's working, it's much easier to quit, revert and be comfortable again. Comfort Never Equates to Sales Success but Sales Success Does Create Comfort. It requires Discomfort to Gain Success in Sales.

What Have Your Salespeople Been Listening To?

Why Corporate Sales Training Often Fails to Deliver Results

How Many Salespeople Shouldn't Be in Sales

Beating The 80/20 Rule

Rejection Proof - The Science Behind Success in Sales

The CEO Who Needed to Hire Salespeople

Manage Your Salespeople by Working Smart, More Stack Rankings

Your Sales Force - Who is Playing on Your Team?

Why is Selling So Difficult?

Closing Sales - Get the Freaking Proposal Right

Everyone has a plan. Some plans are better than others because they contain all or most of the necessary steps and sequence them in an appropriate order. Most plans have gaps where steps should be and the sequence doesn't lend itself to success. One area where we see this occur repeatedly is when companies are about to hire a Sales VP or Director AND

Your Salespeople Can't Even Do That?

6 Keys to Make All Sales Calls Easy Sales Calls

New Metrics for the Sales Force - Unusual Thoughts for Unusual Times

Happy Ears or an Empty Pipeline?

The First Rule of Selling: Have a Plan

How Does the Secret of Happiness Affect Sales Motivation

The Pros and Cons of Hiring Green Salespeople

Born to Sell? Give me a Break

The Former Car Salesperson That Didn't Know Why He Failed

Home > Sales > Dave Kurlan > Why Salespeople Fail to Make Needed Changes > Google +

Free PDF Download
Salespeople Must Stop Snorkeling and Start Scuba Diving - By Dave Kurlan

About the Author: Dave Kurlan

RSS for Dave's articles - Visit Dave's website
Dave Kurlan is a best-selling author, top-rated speaker and thought leader on sales development. He is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling (Dan Seidman), Stepping Stones (Deepak Chopra and Brian Tracey) and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2 (David Riklan).
Click here to visit Dave's website.

More from Dave Kurlan
Salesperson Selection
Predict Sales Turnover
Visual Pipeline

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Share this post and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Why Salespeople Fail to Make Needed Changes

Related Articles

Related Forum Posts

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.


Name:
Email: