The Most Common Sales Fallacies

Contributed by Grant Stanley on February 26, 2015 in Strategy, Marketing, & Sales

For many years, I have struggled and beaten off my competition

through hard work and failures. I have read many books and

many articles on how to be the best Salesman or the Best

Marketer and have tried implementing all the advice. I am sick

to death of all of these How-To guides and the lack of actual real

life examples of when these tips actually worked!

A bit about me first, so you can understand my frustrations. I

left the British Army in 1995 and having no actual trade to fall

back on (well not one that would be of use in Civvy Street), I

stumbled into Sales. I found that I had a natural ability to listen

to people, identify opportunities and close business, so did quite

well. For three years, I worked for a small Sales and Marketing

company that sold products and services on behalf of developing companies. I managed to

save enough money to put myself through University and in 1999, started a 3 year Bachelor

of Science degree in Computer Systems. I graduated in 2002 and having no real interest in

sitting behind a desk for the foreseeable future analysing computer systems, I veered

towards sales again and gained employment with British Telecom. I started at British

Telecom working for the BT Phone Book/Yellow Pages, as a Field Sales Consultant.

British Telecom has an established pedigree for Sales Training, having previously started

and subsequently sold the Yellow Pages, and I undertook the two week residential sales

training course in Milton Keynes. Not the best city in the world and too many

roundabouts! This was an eye-opener, as I had previously never received any official Sales

training, but insightful nonetheless.

I excelled in sales and was quickly promoted into management – not always the route

successful salespeople take but one that suited my motivations. I excelled in Management

too and transferred to the technology side of BT, managing teams of Technical Sales

consultants. This was a new challenge as the needs and support required by Technical

consultants was completely different to those required by Media advertising executives.

Again, through our successes, I was promoted to Regional Director Level, managing the

P&L for numerous departments that supplied my Region.

After 6 fantastic years with BT, I moved to another Blue Chip company, DSGi, to take on a

new challenge as their Sales Director for the Mobile and Data arm of their business.

Originally a 12 month contract, our successes extended this contract for an additional 12

months in preparation for the sale of the company. This brought with it the exposure to

Lean Transformation and Marketing. The import of aligning Sales and Marketing and how

the resultant output far exceeded any previous endeavours by the existing teams, was of

huge interest to me.

This experience prompted me to undertake a Master’s degree in Strategic Marketing

Management to fully understand the potential opportunities that the strategic alignment of

these two key functions could seriously increase the output, and resultant revenue

generation of any business!

I also have a bit of a bone to pick with Universities too, in that their course content is not

only archaic but irrelevant in today’s marketplace, but that moan is for another time.

We have sales trainers across the world that teach us about questioning techniques,

objection handling, and closing techniques; and, dependent on who you ask, the answer and

importance of one technique over another will vary. But, the answers should NEVER vary,

regardless of product or lead time!

When you go on a date with a lady (or man), that lady or man has already considered

sleeping with you. The date is to test the water and to see if you are compatible for the

future! They are not thinking about the fantastic prawn cocktail starter or the (medium

done) fillet steak, they are thinking: W ill they be good in bed? Will our children look good?

Will I be financially secure and will I have his/her support when I need it?

A business sale is exactly the same thing! It doesn’t matter whether your product has

whistles and bells on it or is gold plated, if the person selling it can’t fulfill the criteria of the

date, then he/she won’t sell! Let me elaborate because to make an analogy of a date and a

sale is a bit vague!

The Date

Prawn cocktail starter: Your Introduction to the company and yourself

Fillet steak: Your product and what you offer

Eton Mess desert: Your close/proposal

Coffee and Liquors: Objection handling

Yes, you have questions in between to establish needs and opportunities; yes, you have your

marketing literature; yes, you have objection handling techniques, but that’s just not enough

these days!

Your customers are looking for more! They are more discerning in these economic times

that provide additional choice and competition galore! They want their first date to be

special, they want to find “ The One.”

The Questions Your Date Is Thinking About

Are they good in Bed? – Can we work together? Do I like this person sitting in front of

me? Do I trust the person sitting in front of me? Does he/she share my vision, outlook and

ethics?

Will our children look good ? – Can I see my company aligning with his/her

company? Will his/her company add value to mine? Does he/she bring anything attractive

to the mix? Will there be an impact on my business to use his/her product/service?

Will I be financially secure? – Is his/her company big enough to support mine? Do they

have a pedigree of fulfilment success? Are they going to be breaking my balls for money? Is

their sole focus money? Are they flexible with their pricing?

Will I have their support when I need it? – What sales support can I expect? Is

he/she just going to sell me a widget and then disappear? What if something goes wrong?

What if I need a cuddle or I need to vent frustrations? What if I grow really quickly or need

immediate help?

Price and Brand do play a big part in the date, but that is not all these days. It’s not about

this fantastic sales technique or tip or that objection handling tool any more. We are

reverting back to the old adage “People buy from People!” In fact we never left that adage

behind, but the newer generation of sales people forget that or are not taught that! An all

singing iPad for presentations and great marketing literature is not enough to win business!

I often read articles about utilising your CRM effectively, ideal social media marketing tips,

how having a great website will bring you fortunes, blah blah blah … When did we stop

being good at Marketing? When did we stop being good at working our data? When did we

forget about our Brand?

The majority of adverts I see for all of the above are, for the majority, scare tactics! We have

never neglected our businesses, we never rest on our laurels and we never forget marketing!

Okay, it’s difficult to adapt quickly and sometimes it’s difficult to see the benefits, but it is

necessary. Sometimes there are barriers to change and we need a hand to overcome these

barriers but we always want our businesses to be profitable!

The focus of any business will always be on sales and how to generate revenue! Telesales is

NOT dead, Field sales is still expensive but works, customer services still create sales

opportunities and marketing supports all of the above.

You don’t need an all singing CRM or a Big Data Services or a Social Media Guru or flashy

tools for your staff. You need a spreadsheet or Access database, a telephone and dedicated

and enthusiastic people to support your journey. The rest are just luxuries!

You have reached your current status by absorbing and developing your own style and

approach. This has obviously worked and you have grown as a business and as a

person. You don’t need to change your whole approach or character to be continually

successful! Yes you need to adapt to market changes, but generally they are not that

significant that they require you to alter your whole approach. You don’t need to do all of

the TOP 10 tips to be successful, you don’t need all the fancy tools to be successful and you

don’t need to spend to be successful! You are already successful!

For the last four years I have been a business coach, working with some large Blue Chips

and lots of SME’s. I have never suggested a Top 10 anything, or that they invest huge sums

in new technology. The majority of the time my role is guided discovery! My clients already

know the answers, but have forgotten the importance and my role is to open their eyes and

get them thinking. They have achieved success without me, but have developed barriers to

growing that little bit extra they desire. I just give them options. I tell them the

uncomfortable truth because I am their objectionable friend.

Whilst I acknowledge the advertising tactics employed by these companies that scare the

living daylights out of CEO’s and MD’s, I don’t agree with them. People only need the basics

and an absolute conviction to be successful, the rest is a luxury and not that cost saving in

reality!

We all hate recruitment agencies because they cost us money and time (sorting through the

crappy CV’s they send us) but they serve a purpose. The bigger question is why do you

require them in the first place? Are your Sales teams churning too quickly? Are your staff

not achieving targets? Are your staff not happy in their roles?

The recruitment of the right staff is one of the key elements to achieving the growth you

need! That and being realistic with your expectations! Utilise psychometric evaluation in

your recruitment process.

Yes some of you may think this stuff is mumbo jumbo but trust me, for many years I was of

the same opinion! However, I know my own company culture, I know my company

strengths and weaknesses, and I know my own company’s management and how they

manage. So using psychometrics I can assess the truth about any potential candidate and

see through any bullsh*t they feed me on an interview. These sales people are going to cost

me £30k in salaries and the additional on-cost of another £20k, £5k in recruitment and

time, so I want to make damn sure the person I recruit is not going to leave in 12

months! Part of ensuring this is by being honest in the interview. I tell them it is tough, I

tell them my expectations and I tell them what will happen if they don’t achieve. This

generally thins the herd a bit so I can concentrate on the REAL candidates.

When measuring my Sales teams and the numbers of people achieving or under achieving, I

identify areas of development. If my teams are not achieving their goals then this may be an

indication that they are either not being managed effectively or that my targets may be

unrealistic. If my sales teams are not happy then I will lose them and they will not generate

the required revenue. If they are consistently not achieving across the board then I may

have to address my expectations. I don’t need fancy technology or new sales tools, I need to

re-motivate my teams and achieving teams are happy teams.

I conscious of the fact that I haven’t addressed any Sales fallacies and I have just ranted

about a variety of subjects. So, in brief, here are the common sales fallacies:

Success in Selling Is All about Having the “Gift of the Gab”

Most salespeople believe that having the gift of the gab is the qualification required to be

successful in sales. To some extent this is true – a sales professional should have a natural

ability to express ideas fluently and persuasively. However, at times our eloquence turns out

to be the major hurdle in understanding and connecting with the prospect. WHY? Simply

because we emphasise more on our sales pitch rather than lending an ear to understand the

needs of the other person. The desire to talk more than to listen renders a salesperson

ineffective.

In this context, you will realise that communication skills are often misunderstood. When I

ask my clients to define communication, the most common reply is “getting your message

across”. This may be so, but this is just a small part of communication. What about the

receiver and his/her comprehension of the message?

Communication is all about connecting with the other person at an intellectual and

emotional level. “Gift of the gab” is talking impressively, and this in itself is not enough.

Empathetic listening and our ability to understand and feel the real need in what is said, is

of the essence.

Sales Is a Numbers Game

Do you really believe that doing more of something will get you better results?

Think again!

More often than not, we’re doing more of the things that aren’t working.

More often than not we get caught up in some “persistence” thing or our inner competitor

takes over and so does “smiling and dialling”

I’m saying that less might be more if it leads to a higher quality effort!

A higher quality effort is one where you actually did some research, mapped your

communication on both the messaging side and the inclusion of a good, healthy sales mix.

For people new to selling, mastering the basics is a numbers game (repetition is key to

developing new skills). But once they’ve done that, using those skills in a smart, flexible way

is key. “Less might be more if it leads to a higher quality effort!”

Experience Fallacy – Hiring Salespeople Based on Their

Experience at Large Corporations or Hiring Salespeople Based

on “Feelings”

These common mistakes often are the reason businesses fail to meet sales goals… It’s

neither fair nor logical to exclude someone based merely on the amount of work experience,

and the assumption that the number of years of work experience is a good indicator of one’s

ability to do the job.

Well, maybe just a “experience fallacy…” Companies need to sit down and figure out a map

of the behaviours (e.g., salesperson and customer…) that drive success before doing any

hiring… If you’ve got a profile of the behaviours to drive success, then you’ll make sure that

people are more likely to be aligned.

But, when all else fails, you may have to come to grips with trimming the sales team of dead

weight. Data I’ve collected shows that companies tend to spend too much time coaching the

top 20% of performers and trying to improve the bottom 20%.

But focusing on the core middle 60% of the sales team it is the best way to improve sales!

“Relationships Just Happen”

When I ask why relationships are important to sales success, the answer is almost universal:

“Because people buy from people they know and people they like.” Really? The reason goes

beyond that standard answer, and people know that!

Relationship-building is about more than just the opportunities an individual throws your

way. If you’re working with a big client, it’s likely there won’t be a single unique buyer.

There may be dozens of people on the client side that will influence the outcome in some

way–dozens of people with information and insight. You may have that many people on the

seller’s side as well. It’s very rare that any one person will be able to make a unilateral

decision.

Even the best-laid roads develop cracks, and the bigger the deal the bigger the risk. Without

solid relationships to help you survive the inevitable bumps in the road, today’s mega-deal—

the one that’s going to feed you for the next decade — could easily become next year’s

biggest nightmare and cost you your job.

The Way to Increase Sales and Motivate Salespeople Is to Offer

“Incentives” in Money and Gifts

Poorly designed incentives create a temporary mask for incompetence, and no matter how

cleverly disguised, any carrot-and-stick process produces questionable long-term,

sustainable results.

Manipulating behaviour by offering reinforcements rarely brings out the best in salespeople.

There is current, sound, and factual supporting evidence.

A better approach is to focus on the fundamentals of the sales profession.

Oh my god I just created a Top 5 and I have spent the best part of 10 minutes of your time

berating those that create Top 10 lists! I apologise profusely and will self-flagellate until

suitable chastised!

I know this is a rambling article, but I hope that it provides clarity and honesty in the

stereotypically deceitful role of a Sales Person!

Please feel free to comment, share or retweet!

About Grant Stanley

Grant Stanley is an experienced Sales & Marketing Leader with over 15 years coaching, training, and

developing New and Existing Business. With experience in IT, Telecom, Capital Equipment, and FMCG,

Grant shares his business experiences and expertise on his blog, CSM Consultants (Inspiring & Enabling

Change) . You can also connect with Grant Stanley on LinkedIn here .

Flevy (www.flevy.com) is the marketplace for premium documents. These documents can range from Business Frameworks to Financial Models to PowerPoint Templates. Flevy was founded under the principle that companies waste a lot of time and money recreating the same foundational businessdocuments. Our vision is for Flevy to become a comprehensive knowledge base of business documents. All rganizations, from startups to large enterprises, can use Flevy— whether it's to jumpstart projects, to find reference or comparison materials, or just to learn.

Contact Us Please contact us with any questions you may haveabout our company. • General Inquiries support@flevy.com • Media/PR press@flevy.com • Billing billing@flevy.com