The 2 Reasons Why You Really Lose a Sale by lisafugere

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The 2 Reasons Why You Really Lose a Sale
by lisafugere

It's a rare sales rep who's never lost a deal. We have to lose sales at one point or another. It's also easy to blame a loss on something out of our control. "Our product is inadequately priced," you may say, or, "The prospect has no money." You may even blame the product team ? maybe they're delivering products the way you think they should.

But we do lose sales because of our own personal inadequacies. No sales rep has a lifetime perfect record. When we do admit to ourselves that blame for a loss belongs entirely on ourselves, it typically stems from two faults:

You Shouldn?t Have Been There
To be successful in your sales, you have to concentrate on the right prospects. The chances of converting a prospect depend on the readiness of the prospect and the strategies you use. If your prospect wasn?t prepared or you had ineffective strategies, then you shouldn?t have been there in the first place. It?s as simple as that. You've lost a sales because you got arrogant and didn't do your homework.

Reasons like ?Our product is too expensive for the customer,? and "Our solution wasn?t good enough for the prospect,? may be true, but if you can't figure out those factors before you begin a sale, why are you even there in the first place?

You Were Simply Outsold
Your win rate indicates your success in a sales career. You can do a lot of outstanding things, but at the end of the day, you don't get very far if you fall short of your quota consistently. If you lose a sales that was a good fit, you were simply outsold. Your competitor sold better than you. Unruly and dishonest prospects are unbelievably frustrating. So is loyalty to a competitor of yours and a prospect's inability to understand your products. But at the end of the day, a prospect that's a good fit is not a prospect you should ever lose. If your prospect is dishonest and a horrible communicator, you can still find out a lot of information online. If your prospect is loyal to your competitor, why haven't you challenged them harder?

Losing can be the worst part of selling. But remember, every loss teaches us how to improve future sales. Don't get in the habit of blaming things outside your control for your loss; own up to your missteps, and take the effort to improve your process next time around.