Smart Sales: Are Sales Tips Hazardous to Your Wealth?
October 08, 2008
For sales-tip-hungry reps, a little knowledge can be a bad thing
By Dave Stein
How many salespeople do you think regularly seek out selling tips from Web sites, magazines, books and newsletters? If the number of available resources offers any indication, a whole lot of them.
What's wrong with regularly skimming sales tips from those sources? Same answer: a lot.
Many salespeople think these "tips" are all they need to win. Digest enough of them, their reasoning dictates, and they'll never lose another deal. For other sales folks, it's that ever-elusive silver bullet that they seek. They scour book after book, Web site after Web site, anxious to unearth that single gem that will transform them into a winner.
Don't get me wrong; I think many of the hundreds of sales experts out there have something valuable to say. I certainly felt that way when I wrote How Winners Sell, in addition to dozens of articles. Sure, some self-proclaimed "experts" merely copy what others have done before them. And sales tips that other so-called authorities are writing or speaking about were proven ineffective years ago (like asking your prospect what keeps them up at night—these days, you're often expected to have learned that by they time you meet with them the first time).
But all in all, I'm not questioning the advice contained in the sales tips available today. Most of them make sense, and if used at the right time and in the right way, they can be quite effective. But that's not the issue.
The issue is that these self-paced sources of learning focus almost exclusively on tactics. Sales reps need tactics, but tactics alone won't get your people where they need to be. The more tactics a salesperson reads about in the form of tips, the further he or she gets from the real key to winning: developing and executing a higher-level, overall strategy to win. Your salespeople have to be able to zoom out to that higher level. Sales tips focus them on zooming in.
There is another problem with collecting sales tips. Since many salespeople don't have the knowledge and experience to determine what works and what doesn't, and no one is providing them with a curriculum, they generally choose only the tips they perceive are easy to accomplish. And if they try out a tip once without success, rather than take the opportunity to perfect that skill or technique, they'll likely reject it outright. As a result, they aren't even availing themselves of what might be the best tips for them and their circumstances.
How do I know I'm right on this issue? Books and articles about sales tips have been around for generations, right? So why does recent research by CSO Insights and Sales Benchmark Index (among others) show that 40% of B2B salespeople don't make quota? There are certainly other factors at play here, but it's clear companies that have a formal, institutionalized sales methodology (read: strategy for winning) consistently sell more effectively than the ones that don't. These are the facts. Jumping from tactic to tactic doesn't win deals unless they are integral to an overall plan.
So, if your salespeople swear by those valuable insights from their favorite sales experts, do those reps, your company, your customers and yourself a favor: Integrate the best, most relevant tactics into a strategic, documented sales approach. You'll be glad you did.
Dave Stein is the author of "How Winners Sell" and CEO and founder of ES Research Group in West Tisbury, Mass. (www.esresearch.com). He can be contacted via e-mail at edit@salesandmarketing.com.
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