Carlos believes that sales success is simply a game of numbers, and his commitment to relentless prospecting has proven him right quarter after quarter, year after year. However, all that prospecting creates problems, for Carlos often finds himself so overwhelmed by follow-ups and open opportunities that he loses track of some of the best deals he has on the street.
When Kathy hired Everett, a former user of her company's products, she thought she had finally found someone who could easily penetrate her market. Everett came from the industry and had been a devoted user of Kathy's products in his role as a product repair specialist. When Everett told Kathy he wanted to make the jump from user to salesperson for her product line, she thought it a great idea and immediately offered him a position.
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.
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.
Kathy is frustrated after a recent sales call. She believes if she was brave enough to ask about certain things, the call would have gone her way. It seems like she is constantly on defense and that the client is intentionally "pushing her buttons". Despite her training, it felt like she was always reacting to every little thing that was said rather than thinking about what was really going on. How can she find a way to consistently act like a professional on the call?
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.
The Purchasing Agent started the sales call with: "So, what do you have for me today?" It struck Jennifer that she was hearing this line far too frequently when she showed up for a sales call with both prospects and current customers in her territory.
Symptoms:
No one told Melanie that she would be making calls on her own just two weeks after she started working at Quality Stuff, Inc. When she first began, her new manager said she would do ride-alongs for at least a month and then be slowly let off the leash to contact customers by herself. But that plan went out the window this morning when Melanie found out her mentor had called in sick and she was expected to keep an appointment and fly solo with a very important customer.
How did it happen again? Ed believed he nailed that presentation and felt he’d been as prepared as he could be for any questions the prospect could have had about his company’s latest technology.
