Even though I am not in sales myself I deal with a number of Sales people. If you are looking for a new job in Sales, or deciding on the sales strategy for the next Quarter… look out… and think and act ethically!
An established sales coach recently identified some of the bad habits displayed by (some) sales people. I don’t know how scientific or broad ranging this was, but he did go onto highlight some of the more serious short comings attributed to Sales people, and said that anyone doing 3 or more on the following list should be FIRED!
This should be taken seriously, because not only are they costing you and your company, sales and profit. Such individuals leave a trail of disasters and disgruntled colleagues and customers in their wake…
The 7 deadliest sins of sales people are:
- Over-promising, and under-delivering in respect to delivery times
- Missing rapport building opportunities,
- Assuming you know what the potential customer wants without uncovering their key needs, wants or desires,
- Habitually asking closed rather than open ended questions which get the customer talking,
- Talking twice as much as listening, versus listening twice as much as you speak,
- Talking to all the features of the product instead of spending time on the 3 main features which meet their needs!
- Failing to make people feel special and valued
I know someone who does ALL on the above list and particularly excels at 4, 6 and 7. Somehow, amazingly he has survived thus far!
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