Growth Dynamics Get Down

Symptoms:

One thing was certain: Derek was going to get an earful when he mustered the courage to tell his biggest customer that the truckload of material he was expecting was going to arrive three weeks late.

Symptoms:

Bob was exhausted after seeing over 15 accounts in the past week. He had talked about football, politics, family and even some industry news in order to get the client engaged in a conversation that might give him an opening to pitch his latest and greatest widget.

Symptoms:

"Bulldog" was his nickname and he was proud of it. Guido spent years proving that no one could escape him once he made you a prospect.

Symptoms:

One of the most common objections salespeople get is about price: "That's a bit more than we were thinking about paying." "Your prices are kind of high." "That just doesn't fit our budget" are typical comments.

Symptoms:

Bob found himself staring blankly at his calendar. The year was nearing an end and the speed with which the year had flown by surprised Bob again, just like it had each of the last 15 years, since he had started in this business.

Symptoms:

John's territory involves working with many prospects that ask for samples, demonstrations, proposals, references and all the usual items that buyers want from a vendor. Trying to appear accommodating and professional, John finds himself spending hours of time preparing, writing, setting up or sending all this information that he believes will help "convince" his prospect.

Symptoms:

Sondra worked relentlessly to hit her numbers and keep her territory on top of the rankings.  Never shy about asking for business, if a sales report showed a dip in the numbers, Sondra would beat the bushes for the orders that might help push her over the goal for that quarter.

Symptoms:

After having been in the same role for over 5 years, Ted was stuck. "What else can I talk about with these people that we haven't gone over all ready?" was the question Ted kept asking himself (with no answer) after he did a review of his clients. He knew he didn't want to be the pesky salesman that just made a meaningless follow up call, or who stopped in to drop off donuts and see what orders might be around to pick up, but he was also very aware that his manager expected him to keep growing the territory and expanding the accounts.

Symptoms:

“The weather is changing; flowers and trees are popping out and I am exactly the same” thought Sam. Sam has been in sales for her entire career. She knows she does well enough as she has climbed the ranks through various companies, but she tends to plateau with medium accounts. Sam has yet to earn some of the major accounts and or territories that make salespeople’s careers.

Symptoms:

Sophia loves selling. She loves it so much that she enjoys trying to sell her products to anyone that will listen. Her philosophy is: “No stone should go unturned.” Over the years, the number of prospects she has contacted, presented to and worked up proposals for have always been the highest in the company, but her sales results place her in the bottom quarter of the sales team.