Most sales people are constantly on the hunt for new ways to shorten their sales cycle and cut out the pain of rejection while closing more deals in order to make quota and take home a fatter paycheck. And with resources like LinkedIn, it’s easier than ever to get “free sales advice” and try new tips and techniques.

Often times these “new techniques” fizzle out fast and so the hunt is on for the next great magic bullet.

As a participator of about 50 LinkedIn groups that are mostly related to sales, I can easily share what I see as the most common mistake made by those giving and those receiving sales tips and why they ultimately fail – and what to do about it.

Top Reason Why (Most) Sales Tips Fail to Produce Long Term Benefits

The Sales Tip / Technique offered is Reactive and Not Proactive. You don’t have to look hard in LinkedIn to find someone offering advice on how to “overcome” sales objections, get past gatekeepers, get voicemails returned etc.

Getting rejected by gatekeepers or not having your voicemails returned or having a prospect tell you that they need to “think about it” isn’t the problem, it’s the symptom.

What you are saying prior to the objection / rejection being received, how you are saying what you’ve said and more importantly why you are saying it is causing the reaction you are getting.

Trying to use tactics to “overcome” these obstacles just means you will continually have this battle on just about every call you make… over and over again, because you keep causing the reaction (cause and effect theory, anyone?) That’s exhausting. It’s also a commission stealer.

Good News… It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way

For a sales technique to work consistently, it has to be part of a larger plan. It has to be part of the overall solution to what’s causing the real problem to begin with. Once we start selling in a proactive manner we:

1. Eliminate unnecessary stress / anxiety (for us and our prospects)
2. Maintain control of the sales call a lot easier.
3. Produce better results.

In order to sell in a proactive style, you’ll need to be open to learning a new approach.

One that follows a strategic process that is also flexible enough to adapt to each new prospect while allowing the salesperson to still be able to interject their own unique personality.

Learning this type of sales process requires “change”. Most people (not just sales people) don’t like change. Fewer people like to pay for change. Some of us learn the hard way while others learn from those who’ve already “cut down the forest”.

Whatever your preferred method of learning is, before you take any new sales advice and try it out on a live prospect, ask yourself:

“Is this a reactive or proactive” technique?

If it’s reactive, you may be better off leaving it where you found it.

Sincerely,

Michael Pedone 
Chief Sales Scientist
(888) 264-0562 Ext. 1