The Sales department of any company is the only department that generates revenue for the company. Rest of the departments incurs cost, in one form or another. And what if the sales department and sales personnel start showing signs of ageing, that is to say, what if they have stopped being efficient? What if their productivity starts to drop?

It happens to all of us, at one point or another, our productivity as a sales person start falling. We no longer remain as efficient producing money for our company as we once were. We happen to go in the grip of sales monsters that sucks lifeblood out of us and the entire sales department. This article is being written to help you fight those life sucking sales monsters, and save the future of your company.

Sales Monster 1: Number, Figures, and Charts

This is the deadliest sales monster a sales person faces. This is the deadliest because it poses itself as a friend not as an out and out foe, which makes it difficult for a sales person to recognize this enemy. He ends up believing that it is the hard data, his presentations, and market reports that help him register a sale. Hence, instead of seeing the real reason, which is an emotional connect with the buyers, the sales person end up polishing his transitions, and other bells and whistles of PowerPoint.

You need to understand a buyer is not a computer that calculates every move made by its competitors, and every number that is fed into its system before it makes a decision. A buyer is your mom. A human being who care less about how many SKUs (stock Keeping Units) your customers have purchased in other parts of the world, nor he cares about the marketing research data you present to him.

The person sitting on the other side of the table is driven by his desires, love, lust, aspiration, emotion, value system, fear, pain, ambition, etc. Logic alone will not solve his purpose. He cannot understand logic. Why don’t you understand? Tell him a story, and he will be happy. Share something that he will like, and you will see him hopping around in excitement.

Sales Monster 2: Talking, Talking, and Talking

I know your product is the best in the class, rather it is the best product ever created by mankind, but what the heck? Why should I care about it? Boss, I am tired of listening to your I offer this, my product has this feature, I have solved this problem, and such and such client was very excited to use this…. Give me a break!

This is how your clients yell inside when you keep on talking incessantly. This self-centered behavior will win you no client. No one cares about who you are, what you have to offer, and how you have helped others. This is bullshit for your clients. They are concerned about their own problems, their own issues. If you cannot customize your sales pitch and tailor your product according to their needs then you should better get out of their office. Your clients will care less for this; rather they will be thankful.

The only way to win a client is to shed the baggage of well-prepared sales pitch. Gone are the days when sales men had to be just copy cat; to succeed in today’s world, one need to have the ability to think on one’s feet. Learn to deliver extempore presentation based on the particular need of the client you are talking to. And to do this, you will need to know your product inside out.

Sales Monster 3: Laziness

Let’s face it. Most of the sales people are lazy. They are too lazy to invest time and energy in knowing about the clients and understanding their needs. This lack of enthusiasm for client’s business becomes apparent when a sales person enters the meeting room. Clients do not waste even a second in knowing that the sales person is unprepared, and he has not done any research about the product and services of the company, and its operation.

If a sales person does not have time to research about the client he is trying to win over then how can a client be sure that he will do whatever it will take to solve his problem once the client is with him? The word spoken by a sales person sound phony to a client, if he has not invested time in researching about the client. No one likes to get sold on mere words.

Another situation when laziness takes hold of a sales person is during the follow up. Many sales people do not care to follow up on the client they have visited. At best, they shift the responsibility of following up to their subordinate, and that too without apprizing them of the meeting details.

The laziness monster also pushes many sales people away when it comes to asking for referrals. This means loss of business, as the client may be primed to help you at the time when you sealed the deal.

Sales Monster 4: Over Selling and Over Enthusiasm

Many a time, a sale ends up in a no-sale because of the unrestrained enthusiasm of the sales person. If you think only inexperience sales person falls prey to this monster then you better check the data. If you do not have access then please do a dip-stick study yourself, and see what comes out.

Enthusiasm is good, but when a sales person becomes over enthusiastic, he ends up missing the perceptual, behavioral, and psychological cues given off by the client. He fails to notice that the client is already sold to his proposal, and he does not need any more pushing. In the absence of this critical piece of information, a sales person ends up over selling, which annoys the client, and everything goes back to square one. No sales.

Be wary of such situations. Put each step cautiously, and remain watchful throughout the meeting. Do not miss any psychological, behavioral, or perceptual cue let out by the client.

Over enthusiasm also create hindrance in the way of asking for order. Asking for order at the successful completion of the sales call is very, very important. In the sales situation, always remember that you will not get it, if you do not ask for it.

Conclusion

Any of the four monsters I have discussed above can blow the fatal blow, therefore, it is very important for you to make sure that none of the sales person in your team falls prey to these monsters. After all, sales department is the only department that generates revenue for the company, and you need to keep this department safe in order to safeguard the interest of the whole company.

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