Skip to main content

Avoid the 5 Fetters in Sales

Salespeople are known to be a different breed of people, and top management often do not treat them the same way as they treat office people.  They say that you must give salespeople lots of freedom, just make sure that they achieve your sales targets and everything will be fine.  Is it so?

From our experience in managing, training and coaching salespeople, there are 5 fetters that all salespeople must avoid if they want to be more successful:
  1. Sales as War - such a aggressive approach will imprison salespeople to constantly win battles with a 'out to kill' mindset.  If we were to examine closely, we discover that the biggest war the salesperson need to fight is not with the marketplace but within himself. A good salesperson work on improving himself first before he can conquer the market.
  2. Sales as Entertainment.  Here the salesperson simply believes that all customers must be entertained in order to get the business.  We know that the focus on entertainment will make the salesperson ignore his work and focus on short-cuts and many measures that push the moral law.  This approach will also creates problems in the future, especially when the customer has a change of management and the new management does not like this kind of night-club deals.
  3. Sales as Income.  Here the salesperson just want to earn the most sales commission possible in the shortest period of time. He will serve his own interest more than the customers' interest. Often the customers will be pushed to buy things that he does not want to buy, creating long term unhappiness. Just look at the so many multi-level marketing products stuck at home and you'll know what I'm talking about.
  4. Sales as a no-choice job.  Here the salesperson has already lost his passion and interest for selling, he just sells for a living.  Because it is difficult for the company to find another person that is familiar with the company's products, the salesperson get to keep his job.  But we know that such a salesperson is just passing time and his results will be mediocre or 'just pass'.
  5. Sales as One-Call Transaction.  Here the salespeople assume that people will buy based on just one presentation. The truth is that unless you follow-up, you're following the path of failure.  For people need more than one call, and most sales are closed on the 7th to 9th follow-up.  If you have a system in follow-up so, you can increase your sales conversion rate by at least 30% to 50%.  For details on how to do sales follow-up, click here.  
A good sales manager wants to ensure that his sales team are of the right people with not just the right skills, knowledge and experience, but also the right mindset and moral values.  For if the salespeople are not straight, the company will get into trouble. Just look at the record fines paid by top banks like JPMorgan Chase for their past 7 years of shady deals and you'll know what I'm talking about. 

Written by Andy Ng, Sales Trainer at Asia Trainers, details of sales and sales management courses are at here

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

If Not You, Who Else?

I learnt this very powerful 5-word phrase from Singapore's highest ever box-office movie ever: "Ah Boys to Men II". In one scene, the recruits were about to start their 3-day field camp.  Their Officer-in-Command asked them, "Before we moved out, anybody not feeling well?"  All the soldiers replied loudly, "No Sir!!!" "Gentlemen", continued the Officer, "Every time the training gets tougher, one thought comes to your mind, 'Why Must I Serve National Service?' "My answer to you is, 'If Not You, Then Who Else?'" Wow!  What a powerful phrase!  If Not You, Who Else may mean: You are the most suitable person, and we can't find anyone better than you.  This is appreciation at the highest level How can you push this responsibility to someone else? I am making a request to you specifically, please don't reject my request Can you find me another person more suitable than you? Please refer me anot

Kindness as a Way of Life: How Kindness can Reward You 6 Times Over

Kindness as a Way of Life by Andy Ng Kindness is a universal language that transcends cultural boundaries, enriches human connections, and has the power to transform lives. It goes beyond mere acts of charity or random good deeds. To me, kindness, when practiced as a way of life, becomes a profound philosophy that can shape our interactions with others, the world around us, and even our own well-being. In this article, we will explore the multifaceted aspects of kindness as a way of life, touching on non-violent communication, the limitations of traditional charity, the potential harms of helping, the deliberate cultivation of kindness, and the incredible rewards it brings. 1.       Non-Violent Communication Non-violent communication (NVC) is a key component of practicing kindness as a way of life. Developed by Marshall B. Rosenberg, NVC emphasizes empathetic communication that seeks to understand and connect with others on a deeper level. It encourages active listening, empath

New Age Mobile Numerology

Many people look at 'mobile number change luck' with skepticism, they say, how can just one simple mobile number change create so many changes in a person's life?   Also, the mobile numbers are given to us by random by the telcos, how can our fate be assigned by the telcos at random? Besides, isn't it true that our lives and fates are determined by birth and what we do, how can a small mobile number, which is a modern invention, have any effect?  How about people in the past without mobile numbers?  You mean they don't have a life without mobile numbers, right? One more thing: you cannot just change your mobile number and expect your life to change. If this is so, wouldn't everybody be rich just by changing their mobile numbers? Finally, isn't this kind of fortune-telling thing more of psychology and blind faith than science?   If so, how can we trust anything that is not proven and not science? Today let's resolve all these doubts and I welcome your co