In One Word Describe the Biggest Challenge to Sales

Written by: Dave Goates, Director of Human Capital

I was in a LinkedIn discussion group the other day, and noticed the topic of today’s post. How would you describe your biggest sales challenge in one word? The answers I read were enlightening. Some respondents used more than one word, but here’s a sample with some observations:

• Economy – lots of people think it’s today’s number one problem inhibiting sales, don’t believe it – regardless of the state of the economy sales are happening every day

• Creativity – the need to be creative was never more in evidence than it is today

• Expectations – make certain you set the expectations correctly with your prospects, don’t oversell, always under-promise then over-deliver

• Profit – if you aren’t making one, time to roll in the team and retool your value proposition

• Automation – is it possible to replace a sales person with a machine?

• Charisma – wondering if that refers to the sales people, or the people on the other end

• Management – sales people either love ’em or hate ’em, hard to stay lukewarm on that topic

• Accounting – ever been tempted to think of the Accounting Department sometimes as the “sales prevention department?”

• Fear – more than one person said that

• Negotiate – everything in sales is a negotiation, can your people negotiate?

• Predictability – don’t ever discount the serendipitous sales result – it happens and it’s unpredictable even when an existing customer wants more

• Accuracy – is your value proposition being accurately portrayed to your market with a sales process everyone buys into?

• Cold Calls – two words, but it’s the dread of most sales people, and businesses like ours thrive on the hatred of it

• Procrastinators – referring to prospects who are slow making decisions, which is usually a signal you haven’t found the decision maker yet

• Listening – some sales people don’t know when to stop talking and listen to the prospect

• Discounting – make certain there are limits to which your team will not go that put you under water

• Discouragement – it’s a salesperson’s constant companion, make certain they know how to leave it in their rear view mirror

• Voicemail – the place where a sales call goes to die

• Hiring – getting the right people in the right seats on the bus is half your battle

• Recruiting – when you spot talent, find a place or make one, don’t wait until there’s an opening

• Persistence – you’ll know if you’ve got it, because without it you die on the vine waiting to be watered

• Smile – did you know you can “hear” a smile over the phone?

Share your thoughts with us. Anything pop into your mind?