- January 23, 2012
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
If you have been reading my Blog for a while you know that there is more to selling than just utilizing skills to execute the sales process, sales model, and sales methodology. The big, hidden, 600 pound gorilla in all this is the combination of hidden weaknesses that prevent salespeople from executing.
Objective Management Group identifies five big ones and a dozen or so additional weaknesses that cause problems for salespeople. Most salespeople have at least 3 of the big ones and average a total of 9 weaknesses all together.
Sadly, most sales training and sales trainers are unable to help salespeople overcome these weaknesses because their focus is primarily the sales skills and methodology that they teach. That puts tremendous pressure on sales managers who are simply not equipped to help salespeople overcome things like:
- Need for Approval (prevents them from asking lots of good, tough, timely questions)
- Non Supportive Buy Cycle (causes them to empathize with stalls, put-offs and objections)
- Self-Limiting Record Collection (negative self-talk that sabotages sales outcomes)
- Uncomfortable Talking about Money (not able to have an in-depth financial discussion)
- Tendency to Become Emotional (temporary panic when things don’t go as planned)
- Difficulty Recovering from Rejection (takes too long to get back on the horse)
- Being Too Trusting of What Prospects Say (they believe the stalls and put-offs)
- Not Being Goal Orientated (they lack purpose and incentive)
- many more