Too Many Missed Sales Opportunities? Read This

Missed Sales Opportunities
Sales managers know with the increase in both competition and customer expectations it’s hard enough to hit sales quotas on a regular basis.  But it’s near impossible if your sales team is guilty of some of the most common missed sales opportunities even top solution sellers make.

The Top 4 Missed Sales Opportunities
We are often called in to help clients improve the revenue, margin, win-rate, portfolio mix, or retention of their salesforce through business sales training and consulting.  It hurts to see how often the same missed sales opportunity mistakes are made.  Is your sales team guilty of any of the following foul-ups?

1. Preaching to the Wrong Choir
   First, we hope your sales reps have learned that complex B2B solution sales is more about quality, focus, and value-add than about quantity, hope, and features. Not all products or services are right for every buyer.  The first mistake that leads to missed sales opportunities is not ruthlessly focusing on your ideal target client.

   If you have not identified the target clients who most value what you have to offer, your marketing, prospecting, selling, and negotiation strategies are set up to produce average results at best.  Do not waste valuable sales time and effort.

2. Inability to Articulate Value
   Other missed sales opportunities are caused by unclear value propositions that do not quickly and easily set you apart in the eyes of your buyer from their perceived alternatives. To succeed, paint a clear and compelling picture of how you help solve your customers’ most pressing problems better than the competition.

   Help your customers to envision success — problems solved, disasters averted, improvements in place, more engaged workforce, whatever matters most to them.

3. Inability to Add Value
   Your sales force will be treated based upon how they behave. If your sales reps behave transactionally, they will be treated transactionally.  Conversely, if your sales reps provide value and insights during each and every interaction, they will be seen as a trusted advisor rather than a simple — and replaceable — vendor.

   To add value during the sales process, your sales team must thoroughly understand their target customers and their industry, be able to identify what matters most to them personally and professionally, and be able to articulate unique value consistently.

4. Unfocused Sales Activities
   High levels of sales activities alone don’t result in high levels of sales. Real sales success occurs when you are smart about how you spend your limited sales time.  Be sure to identify the leading sales activities (e.g. pre-call sales planning, client research, relationship-building, asking for client referrals, sharing knowledge) that have the most predictable and controllable influence upon reaching your sales targets.

The Bottom Line
Because it usually takes a lot of time and effort to get a new sales prospect, missed sales opportunities hurt.  Learn from the mistakes of others to improve sales performance.  Know your target clients, have a clear and compelling value proposition, bring value, and focus on the sales activities that matter most for your unique situation.

To learn more about increasing sales performance, download How to Optimize Your Sales Force in the Face of Increased Performance Pressure