The words “You have time to lose a deal" sting. It sounds harsh, and you might disagree at first. You have time to lose but not to win? One thing we all want more of is… time. No one wants to lose, but the actions often do not match the desired outcomes.
The truth is: salespeople spend less than half the day selling and 3 out of 4 sales reps are losing more than winning.
Only 39% of a sales rep’s time is spent selling or interacting with prospects and customers.*
74% of salespeople fail **
Average sales success rate is only around 3%**
Have you heard (or worse, said yourself), “I’d be successful if I had more time.”? Time itself will not win deals. It is known as a socially accepted excuse. It means they (or you) are playing the role of a victim, and the Failure Formula is creeping in.
Four Actual Reasons New Business is Lost
1. Didn’t help the prospect/customer identify the need
50-90% of the journey is complete before a buyer interacts with a sales rep.***
Whether it is a cold RFP, or a competitor helped them to bring them to a recognition of need, the sales rep can increase the likelihood of winning the business if they can help the customer see a need in a new or different way.
In fact, there is a 91% chance to continue helping the prospect move through the buying/decision-making process if the salesperson can help them recognize the gap between their actual and desired state, versus only a 9% chance if entering the decision process if the prospect was already investigating their options!
2. Didn’t plan for the meeting
Consider this: A sales rep that says they didn't have time to plan for a client meeting goes up against someone who has. The other rep has done background research, has an agenda for the meeting with primary and secondary objectives, planned questions to uncover what they don't know, scripted how they can create value and solve their problem(s) in their operating reality, has anticipated any objections and has role practiced how to overcome them. Who is more likely to win the deal?
3. Didn’t lose fast enough
If it is going to happen, lose fast! Every minute spent on a losing deal is a minute not spent cultivating a winning deal. We only get 525,600 minutes in a year. Great sales reps lose fast and have more time working.
4. Didn’t think learning and following a proven sales process would help
I get it. For seasoned sales reps, it may seem rudimentary. They think they know what the client is going to say. Every objection has been heard before. The truth is what they don't know is what kills deals. It is the same for new reps and all of the above applies to new or seasoned sales reps.
To be effective at selling and winning new business, salespeople must understand the customer’s operating reality, recognize where the customer is in the buying/decision process, be able to captivate, differentiate, and validate your value, ask effective questions and actively listen to bring a customer to a recognition of need, overcome
objections, and most importantly, plan interactions using all of these skills!
These are the six key skills covered in Butler Street’s Sales Effectiveness program.
For individuals, register today to start the online, interactive, self-paced eLearning to learn these skills.
For teams, contact us for discounted group rates for eLearning or to schedule live or virtual training which combines the eLearning with role practice and Butler Street’s sales coaching experts for your team to win more business.
Don’t let the failure formula creep in and blame the lack of time. We want you to win and we can help!
*Hubspot: https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/salespeople-spend-less-than-half-day-selling-data?__hstc=11361899.e66b9396f51a660df68efdc657679f5e.1676480746891.1676480746891.1676480746891.1&__hssc=11361899.1.1676480746891&__hsfp=901111203
**Zippia: https://www.zippia.com/answers/what-percentage-of-salespeople-fail/
***Spotio: https://spotio.com/blog/sales-statistics/