Growth Dynamics Get Down

Grace knows what the end of the year means to a successful sales professional; get busy doing account reviews. After 10 years in the business Grace was willing to have these conversations, but after turning in the write ups to her sales manager she was not sure what was accomplished. The customers sounded like a tape-recorded message every year; we like your service, the products have been fine, no big plans for any changes, keep doing what you are doing. If Grace had filled out the reports before she spoke to customers, she probably would have gotten the same information. This year with all the changes caused by the pandemic, Grace figured that this tired process needed to change as well but had no idea of what those changes should be.

Sasha looked at the calendar and realized we are about 8 weeks away from the end of 2020 and what a year it has been. She knew 2020 has been a year like no other. A global pandemic, toilet paper shortages, closed business and canceled face to face meetings come to the top of her mind.

This change in life and business made her feel uncomfortable as she thrived at in person meetings, uncertain of what the future would hold her, her friends and clients and introduced her to a new levels of stress and anxiety. She wondered what 2021 would bring and if a return to normal could be expected.

Symptoms:

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?

Symptoms:
Carl was feeling frustrated and hurt. One of his best accounts was showing a definite decline in volume that was way beyond what could be explained by the market or the economy, and he could not imagine that he had done anything to create the change. Besides, the owner of the client company always said how much he enjoyed having Carl as a friend, someone he could count on to take care of him when he needed something taken care of, or some "special" pricing. Carl felt good about this relationship and felt he could rely on it to keep him as the preferred supplier no matter what. This situation made understanding why the sales were heading south all the more frustrating. 

Symptoms:

Chipper’s favorite client, Sonya, called and needed some help. It was a problem, with a tight timeline and restricted budget. Chipper spoke to the client, gathered all the information, and told her he would be right back to her with information. When Chipper returned the call, he had bad news for his most favorite client. He could not do anything to meet any of the timelines or budget. White the most favorite client was disappointed, she understood. This project was a hard one to work through. As Sonya was saying goodbye, ready to go to work finding her needle in a haystack Chipper stopped her. He had the name of a competitor that had everything she needed, and they were waiting for her call. Sonya could not believe Chipper was not only sending her to a competitor, but he took the steps to call this competitor before he called her back with bad news.

Symptoms:

Tanya was thrilled to open her calendar for the week and see SO MANY follow-up calls she had to make. She built out her pipeline, made initial contact, held conversations, and was asked to follow-up in a few weeks by most of her prospects. Well, that time was here, and she was ready to go to work on collecting next steps and decisions. Yet, as she made her follow-up calls, she could not get past the gate keepers or talk to anyone live. Her frustration was growing with each and every call. She was banking on at least a few of these follow-up calls to turn into closeable deals. She needed closes to hit her yearly goals. What could have gone wrong when the conversations were so promising?

Symptoms:

Sadie was pumped to have a meeting with the right decision makers on her new product. They quickly agreed to her lunch and learn invitation and even let her know how excited they were about her products. They used a competitor’s products, and this was her chance to get the sale. She gathered the standard slide deck, added a few slides comparing her product to the others in the marketplace and even went as far to include delivery information. She knew this was the lunch and learn to end all lunch and learns and it would be an easy close.

Yet, when the presentation wrapped up Sadie asked if there were any questions and no one had any. They kindly thanked her and out the door she went. Later she learned the company went with their existing vendor.

Symptoms:

Jerry was having a year that was slightly ahead of last year, but he was frustrated that he wasn't doing as well as he thought he could be or should be. Although he had taken some sales training and learned some unique words, phrases, and approach tactics, he felt like he was struggling to say and do the "right" things when it came to managing his activities and sales calls. He wondered what he needed to change so that his daily work became more natural, fun, and productive.

Symptoms:

Have you ever been part of a sales call where there seemed to be little structure, where both parties seemed to be on different pages, where expectations were not met, and little was accomplished? Even worse, you expected something positive to occur but simply got a lukewarm response such as, "I need to think it over. Call me in a few days." Opportunities are squandered and the buyer seems to be in control.