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Why Most Sales Professionals SUC: Selling is a Profession and not a Part Time Vocation!

Did the title alarm you? Cause your emotional blood pressure to rise? Or better yet, did the title intrigue you …?

The difference between SUCCESS and SUC-cess is all about the KPIs one adheres to, believes in, and holds oneself accountable to in a daily perspective.

If sales and selling were easy, it would be called Order Taking and the personnel would make a whole lot less! It is called Selling for a reason!

Benchmark yourself off of any industry you hold in high regard and individual professional within it and I bet you will recognize that those individuals do not give up early? That these individuals are professionally committed and are always engaged in on- going learning, development, certifications and are personally benchmarking off of those deemed to be best-in-class.

Consider these macro trends from the world of sales, as published and researched national statistics reveal, and benchmarked against my client observations for three-plus- decades. Only you know the real answers, how do you stack up:

  • 80% of sales are closed/made on/after the fifth contact
  • 48% of sales people never follow up; Or follow up in a timely manner to have any positive impact on the initial contact activity
  • 12% of sales people make two to three contacts and stop
  • 25% of sales people make a second contact and STOP
  • Less than 10% of sales people make more than three contacts with a prospect or lead
  • 2% of sales are made on the first contact
  • 3% of sales are made on the second contact
  • 5% of sales are made on the third contact
  • 90% of sales are made after the fifth engagement, interaction and substantive contact
  • 70% of sales people have and use no systems on a regular basis to manage their book of business
  • 80% of sales people have no and follow no fundamental selling process when the engage the prospect or client
  • 75% of sales professionals only know 25% of the products/services they represent from a Product IQ perspective
  • Most sales people spend less than 12% of their time on the phone generating leads or making outbound new contacts
  • Monday and Fridays are the slowest days for new business generation for sales professionals, yet most selling professionals have no system to maximize these days for meaningful ROI
  • 98% of all sales professionals that do not make their quotas spend 80% of their time engaged in non-business related social network activities, surfing the internet, and texting personal issues between 8AM and 5PM daily
  • #1 visited/traffic websites Monday through Friday between 8AM and 5PM are pornographic in nature
  • 92% or selling professionals that are not making the sales goals/missions can show no personal development endeavors to better their craft
  • Do you know the math, every selling professional, sales manager and business owner knows their selling math
    1. How many general market contacts does it take to get a contract (lead flow analytics)
    2. How many market contacts per SKU does it take to gain/win a contract
    3. How many rapport building calls or non-business meetings does it take to build trust between the prospect and you before serious consideration of your organization or offer takes place
    4. What are the expected and appropriate “no’s” a prospect should raise and where in the selling presentation should the arise, and how do you fact based logically respond to them to address them
    5. How much time, money and resources are invested in gaining one new contract
    6. How much does it cost (or is it an investment) to have you on payroll for twelve months
    7. Etc.
  • 100% of selling professionals that exceed their selling goals/mission have systems, processes, advisors to ensure their continued accountability and success, and engage on regular reading/listening/studying to improve their craft

What does your picture reveal?

Over the decades I have had the opportunity to work with the top Fortune 500 Firms, mid-cap businesses and start-up entrepreneurial enterprises, along with some of the legends in sales and sales management (Zig Ziglar, Bill Brooks, Brian Tracy, Jeff Gitomer, Denis Waitley, Harvey Mackay, Mark Victor Hansen and others), and in every case what I have learned is the above analytics are always correct. And, in many instances the difference between SUCCESS and SUC starts with the mental health we bring to the art and craft of selling and how we as selling professionals or sales management professionals apply to ourselves and our environment – internally and externally.

The list of non-business behaviors, nepotism, and biases that derail our potential is alarming. And the list above can be added to daily to excel or greatness or implode our abilities. So, to improve your sales effectiveness make sure you operate like a Sales Professional!




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