When it comes to sales success, there are two main pitfalls even experienced salespeople fall into.
- Not enough activity. First, they simply aren't doing enough. What's enough? Enough telephone calls to make appointments, enough face-to-face meetings, enough calls designed to influence decision-makers. In general, the more focused sales activity salespeople can engage in, the greater the number of sales opportunities they can create.
- Poor-quality activity. Second, but equally important, salespeople often aren't clear about how to identify the prospects most likely to have a genuine need for their product or service. Without an objective way to prioritize which prospects to contact first and/or an efficient strategy for contacting them, salespeople waste a large percentage of their time.
Another huge dilemma for many salespeople is how to divide their time between servicing existing clients and finding new prospects. Existing clients frequently make requests for service that could be delegated to support staff. But salespeople who lack a disciplined, future-orientated plan for generating new contacts and sales can find themselves spending time attending to such tasks for existing accounts instead.
A common approach among salespeople can be summarized by the following saying: "If you throw enough mud against the wall, some of it is bound to stick." This approach is exhausting, demoralizing, extremely unproductive and very expensive in the long term. Target your efforts to your specific goals and you will stand a much better chance of achieving them.
