John Vanderslice

Developing new business has many avenues, and given that many sales people are reluctant to cold call, getting introductions through referrals from existing customers, friends, and business associates is a far more pleasant way of starting the selling process.

Jane, a new sales hire, was settling into her workspace on Friday morning, all ready to celebrate the first quarter in which she’d been able to exceed her revenue target… when she got a voicemail message that made her stomach churn.

If you have salespeople, chances are they have sat through quite a few of your virtual sales training meetings. The salespeople we work with tell us their top 3 complaints about virtual sales training meetings are that: A) They’re often disappointed they don’t learn anything new. B) They get bored on the calls as the training is not interactive enough and C) They feel like it’s hard to retain the material because it’s only presented to them once, but not reinforced in the future.

Gwen’s closing rate wasn’t looking good; she had missed quota for three consecutive quarters. She asked her manager Eileen for a little help in figuring out what she could do to improve. Among the questions, Eileen asked during their one-on-one meeting was this one: “Can I take a look at your proposals?”

Bert’s major frustration was dealing with prospects who couldn’t seem to make a decision. During a weekly coaching session, he told his manager, Elaine, that one of his biggest difficulties was dealing with prospects who indicated the desire to make a decision, and who pledged to do so by a certain date. When the date rolls around, though, they invariably needed more time.

Anita asked her manager to take part in a “ride-along” on her first sales call of the New Year… so he could offer her some constructive criticism on the best ways to improve her selling technique. Anita was out to fulfill a New Year’s resolution: she was eager to identify one specific best practice that would help her improve her closing ratio.

Eileen, a brand-new sales hire, found herself struggling during her first week on the job. At her initial coaching session with Juan, her supervisor, she asked for some guidance on identifying promising lead sources. Instead of making suggestions about that, though, Juan decided to begin the process by asking a few basic questions.

Once you’ve identified a goal that really matters to you, you’ll be more likely to attain it if you put the power of visualization to work on your behalf.

Have you ever lost a sale because of a problem you could have and probably should have dealt with earlier in the sales process? Have you ever lost a customer because you waited too long to tell them about a delay or defect? If you know a problem is going to blow up in your face, defuse it now.

We consistently have organizations coming to us for help with hiring the right talent. Over the years we’ve learned some pretty important lessons around interviewing sales people. Here are three common interview pitfalls you should try to avoid.