Your Salespeople Are Advocating the Wrong Way

Your salespeople are supposed to be the advocates of your company to your prospects. Too often salespeople take the reverse posture and advocate for their prospects to their employer.

Statements like

• We have to _________ (cut price, offer extra services, paint our product blue) to get their business.
• It's a tough economy so everyone's buying on price.
• They (a prospect) said that they would really like to work with us if only we had ___________.
• Our competitor (the incumbent) does _____________ for them (the prospect) right now. Why can't we do _____________?

are designed to put pressure on you, your team's leader and mask the real problem, which is your salespeople are afraid of asking questions that seek truth from their prospects.

David Sandler said, "never do anything unless you know why you're doing it." Coach and role play with your salespeople so their comfort level with asking truth seeking questions overrides their fear of "losing" an opportunity that isn't theirs anyway.

Until next time... go lead.