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.
Recently, nothing stung Darren more than when his wife pointed out that he failed yet again at his promised to be home for dinner. And, tonight he knew that he wouldn't make it to dinner again. His two kids were at the ages where they always seemed to be headed from one practice or another, and his wife Jessica was feeling often deserted when she asked Darren for help with all the driving around town. “Work/life balance” meant nothing more than disappointment to Darren as his boss just kept the pressure on by asking for more sales every month.
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.
