Why is Selling So Difficult?
Why is Selling So Difficult?
Prospects don't buy because of logic and they have difficulty making decisions when presented with logic. Strategies and tactics exist and are constantly refined because selling by telling rarely works. Yet a huge percentage of salespeople, perhaps your salespeople, even salespeople who have been trained and coached to be more consultative and customer focused, still find it easier to simply tell to sell. Questions to uncover compelling reasons to buy seem unnecessarily complicated to most salespeople. But if they don't learn to effectively ask lots of really good, tough, timely questions, there won't be many places where they can hide.
21st Century Selling requires salespeople to have and follow an effective process, to have strategies for varying scenarios, and to be armed with the tactics needed to move an opportunity through the sales process. Salespeople skip steps because they mistakenly assume that the compelling reasons they talk about are the same as their prospects' compelling reasons. They assume that prospects are talking with competitors and getting the business is simply a matter of price. They assume they are speaking with decision makers. They assume their prospects have and will spend the money. They assume to know the time line for a decision. They assume to have a great relationship. And the one thing they are really good at - presenting solutions and explaining capabilities - they do before they know what a needs and cost appropriate solution should be.
So why is selling so difficult? There are two primary reasons, each with a subset of reasons:
1. Salespeople. In their effort to do what is most comfortable, they fail to adapt to changing times, requirements and advice. They do what makes sense to them, rather than what is required to be effective. They do what is easiest, rather than what works. They do what they know, rather than learning what they don't know.
2. Management. They allow complacent, resistant, non-adapting behaviors to exist. They fool themselves into believing their salespeople know what to do. They have the same self-limiting beliefs as their salespeople.
Why is Selling so Difficult? Because the simplest, most obvious, most important behaviors and actions are not the most effective. Anyone who has ever learned to play golf knows this all too well. In order to properly hit a golf ball, you must address the ball, hold the club and swing it in a manner that is completely uncomfortable. The difference is that with a golf swing comes an immediate result. Do what's comfortable and you can immediately see that comfort=failure. In sales, do what's comfortable and you can immediately see your prospects nods their heads up and down=Fall sense of security. You don't get the instant feedback that you need to know that comfort=failure.
Why is Selling So Difficult? So that only the best salespeople can reap the rewards that sales has to offer.
Why is Selling So Difficult - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Kurlan's Website.
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Wouldn't it be nice if selling was as easy as most salespeople treat it? You would just come right out and say what you're selling, tell prospects why it's important, explain the features and benefits, tell them what it costs, and make the sale. After all, that's how we did it in the 60's and 70's. It's so easy. It's so logical, it's so ineffective. Why is selling so difficult? I have a number of answers....
Prospects don't buy because of logic and they have difficulty making decisions when presented with logic. Strategies and tactics exist and are constantly refined because selling by telling rarely works. Yet a huge percentage of salespeople, perhaps your salespeople, even salespeople who have been trained and coached to be more consultative and customer focused, still find it easier to simply tell to sell. Questions to uncover compelling reasons to buy seem unnecessarily complicated to most salespeople. But if they don't learn to effectively ask lots of really good, tough, timely questions, there won't be many places where they can hide.
21st Century Selling requires salespeople to have and follow an effective process, to have strategies for varying scenarios, and to be armed with the tactics needed to move an opportunity through the sales process. Salespeople skip steps because they mistakenly assume that the compelling reasons they talk about are the same as their prospects' compelling reasons. They assume that prospects are talking with competitors and getting the business is simply a matter of price. They assume they are speaking with decision makers. They assume their prospects have and will spend the money. They assume to know the time line for a decision. They assume to have a great relationship. And the one thing they are really good at - presenting solutions and explaining capabilities - they do before they know what a needs and cost appropriate solution should be.
So why is selling so difficult? There are two primary reasons, each with a subset of reasons:
1. Salespeople. In their effort to do what is most comfortable, they fail to adapt to changing times, requirements and advice. They do what makes sense to them, rather than what is required to be effective. They do what is easiest, rather than what works. They do what they know, rather than learning what they don't know.
2. Management. They allow complacent, resistant, non-adapting behaviors to exist. They fool themselves into believing their salespeople know what to do. They have the same self-limiting beliefs as their salespeople.
Why is Selling so Difficult? Because the simplest, most obvious, most important behaviors and actions are not the most effective. Anyone who has ever learned to play golf knows this all too well. In order to properly hit a golf ball, you must address the ball, hold the club and swing it in a manner that is completely uncomfortable. The difference is that with a golf swing comes an immediate result. Do what's comfortable and you can immediately see that comfort=failure. In sales, do what's comfortable and you can immediately see your prospects nods their heads up and down=Fall sense of security. You don't get the instant feedback that you need to know that comfort=failure.
Why is Selling So Difficult? So that only the best salespeople can reap the rewards that sales has to offer.
Why is Selling So Difficult - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Kurlan's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan 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 and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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