10 Reasons You Don't Close More Sales

When you consider the fact that nearly half of all salespeople fail to produce enough revenue to meet quota, it really makes you wonder how sales reps can close more sales. The truth is, there is always more meat on the bone and room to improve. 

Here's 10 reasons why salespeople don't close more sales.

1) Sales reps can't distinguish between the different types of buyers they are selling to: Have you ever wondered why some buyers buy and some buyers don't buy - even if you use the same sales pitch? It's because there are 4 different types of buyers. Being able to identify them allows you to custom tailor your presentation and sales approach to their values. This dramatically increases your chances of closing more sales. Learn everything about the 4 types of buyers.

2) Salespeople fail to generate emotional interest: It's been said that customers buy based on emotion - this is absolutely true. Unfortunately, most salespeople don't understand the psychology behind the process of generating emotional responses that get customers to actually want what they are selling. If you want to close more sales, you have to learn how to generate emotional interest from your customer. A perfect sales pitch will do this, every time.

3) Salespeople don't ask enough of the right questions: Close more deals by asking more questions and by asking the right questions. Questions allow you to control the sales process and also allow you collect valuable information that you can use to understand the buyer's motives, what they are looking to accomplish and what they value. Great salespeople spend the vast majority (70% or more) of their presentations listening to customers. 

4) Salespeople talk way too much: Due to the fact that most salespeople don't ask enough questions, they end up talking too much. Talking at length about your product, its features and how great it is puts you at risk of reducing the level of interest your buyer has in your product. That's why asking questions is crucial and will help you identify what your buyer needs to know in order to make a decision and close the sale.

5) Salespeople are only focused on selling their product: Of course, selling the features and benefits of the product is extremely important. After all, that is the thing your customer is looking to buy. However, most salespeople aren't aware that they must sell the customer on the value of their personal level of service, the quality of the company the customer is doing business with and salespeople must remember to sell themselves! The product, the company, the service and the salesperson all provide the customer with immense value!

6) Customers aren't showing up to appointments: Although no salesperson on the planet has a 100% show rate, there are several things salespeople can do to improve their appointment show rates. Having a sales manager (or even a friend!) call the prospect 30 minutes after scheduling the appointment to confirm the future appointment has shown a 50% increase in show rates.

7) Salespeople don't follow a script or formal sales process: Most salespeople 'wing it' or enjoy shooting from the hip because they think that following a formal process or script makes them look inexperienced. Nothing could be further from the truth. The best sales professionals might not be seen using a script while on a call, but trust me, they have been practicing and implementing formal sales processes, word tracks and lists of questions long enough to make it look easy. You'll know a seasoned veteran salesperson when you meet one. Always follow a formal process so you can get formal results.

8) Salespeople are terrible at following up with customers: A wildly popular sales statistic shows that 48% of salespeople will never attempt to follow up with a customer. It seems that most people know this - but still make no effort to change it. The majority of the 52% of salespeople that do follow up do it poorly. They email customers saying they are 'just checking in' or 'touching base' or 'wanted to follow up'. They end up boring their prospects to death, annoy them and simply turn-off their buyers. If you keep 'checking in', sooner or later, your prospect is going to check out! Understand that follow up is really 75% entertainment,15% education and 10% value-driven. 

9) Salespeople focus too much on handling objections and not enough time eliminating them: Hundreds of books have been written about becoming a 'closer' and what to say when a customer gives them an objection. Most of these books, courses and videos were produced, written or shot decades ago when it was more acceptable to say 'just do it anyway, sign here'. In today's market, consumers do not want to deal with an aggressive salesperson or want to be 'closed'. Consumers are much more educated and have access to a nearly unlimited list of competitors with a quick Google search. Sales professionals need to be focused on reducing buyer resistance, shortening the sales cycle by increasing the perceived value of the transaction and increasing urgency. Objections are only present when there is a lack of perceived value.

10) Most sales presentations are sloppy, unrehearsed and boring: Over 70% of C-Suite level executives report that salespeople provide 'no value' throughout the sales process. Wow. Great salespeople understand that in addition to showcasing product features that they must create a memorable experience for their buyer during the sales process. A great sales pitch must include enthusiasm, effective communication of ideas, a lot of good questions, entertaining references and must follow a duplicatable, practiced process that, in turn, produce duplicatable results: closing more sales.

If this resonated with you, I'm here to help. I'd like to invite you to activate your free trial to Stupar Sales Academy and gain immediate access to a massive library of comprehensive sales lessons, scripts, downloadable files and templates you can use to dominate sales. Hundreds of sales professionals rely on this content to improve their skills, increase their confidence and close more sales. Sales has evolved. Will you?