"The sale is like the sap that feeds the leaves and fruits of the trees. When abundant, the species grows, develops and multiplies. By becoming scarce, organizations, like trees, contract in anticipation of better times. But when it is insufficient, its immature fruits and its leaves will fall off, then its branches, trunk and roots will dry up until it finally dies ».
Despite the validity of the metaphor that belongs to me, as consumers we suffer daily from the lack of professionalism of the representatives in many companies every time we have to analyze a possible purchase to satisfy a need, solve a problem or simply by wanting to inform ourselves for our healthy consuming curiosity.
The origins
By refreshing our memory, we better understand what it is about. Our lack of culture towards the sale comes from prolonged decades of a distorted environment and whose market characteristics have left us an imprint that still lasts today.
That disastrous and prolonged economic period in our history (Argentina) was characterized by inflationary cycles, short recessions, new inflationary and hyperinflationary cycles.
To this, the seasoning should be added to isolate the rest of the more developed countries due to staunch protectionism of the national industry. The consequence of this is that, in order to preserve the purchasing value of their income and for the sole purpose of satisfying their needs, they had only two options: either they anticipated their future purchases acquiring more than required in the immediate term or they converted your income in dollars.
Across the counter, vendors long enjoyed this wonderful period. Having enough merchandise, not always in optimal condition and without a guarantee of return, they received avid consumers doing them the favor of supplying them.
The rudeness, the disinterest, the opening hours, the exhibition in parvas, etc., were some of the most characteristic features.
In such wonderful conditions, who could think of training and doing the same with their representatives?
In these conditions and rules of the market game, the sale was not a problem; in reality, the problem lay in replacement: securing the price and having the necessary units.
The other aspect that characterized that period was the financial issue. The destiny of the entrepreneurial profits multiplied in fixed terms at rates that covered inflation and offered succulent benefits to investors.
During this period that ended in the '90s, many of them resisted to modify their behavior towards the client despite the period characterized by Marketing that proclaimed the delayed fact of placing the client in his privileged place.
Others, on the other hand, were trained through teachers from that old school that I have called "traditional sales", where the desire to sell and obtain the required results is obtained at the cost of the client and not to his satisfaction.
To this can be added another indigenous seasoning: our "light" self-sufficiency that leads us to do everything, but without the depth of basic knowledge or skill and efficiency in its application.
Enchanted with the prospect of higher and easier incomes, many oriented themselves and continue to apply to exercise it, improvising on the fly since they do not receive any training or learn from teachers with vices of the traditional school already described.
Given that the lack of culture towards sales covers all levels of the company, the mistakes of incorporating "fuse sellers" (they sell or leave) by SME bosses, managers and entrepreneurs, further aggravate the situation due to the high cost produced by the constant rotation and discredit that such sellers spread in their daily contacts in the niche.
Based on the foregoing and the widespread exercise of "malpractice" to sell, the loss of prestige of such important business activity is understandable. As a feature, just note that other connotations are used when introducing yourself such as: account representative, business department, account executive, etc.
In prolonged recessive economic periods like the present one, except for the companies that exercise it professionally, the issue is aggravated by not producing the necessary and sufficient sap for their subsistence and even with the best products or services in their niche.
The figures that reflect it
Having an idea of why we do not sell better is reflected through the results of a survey carried out on our site La Venta Profesional © (www.hellerconsulting.com). Knowing what is happening in a certain country is important, but much more is knowing what state your case is in.
So each person can draw the conclusions detailed below for each of the questions and their answers. This is where the opportunities begin to play in favor of those who undertake the right actions that correspond.
From 460 vendors in Argentina, entrepreneurial compounds that sell, independent vendors and in a relationship of dependency, arise from the percentages of answers to our following questions:
- If you are selling, have you chosen to do it because you really like it? YES: 93% / NO: 7% Let us keep in mind that nobody can be successful if they do not love what they do, but if they dislike exercising the profession of selling, the results they obtain will be meager and the loss of prestige for their products or services will be great and the company itself, due to the negative image that is transmitted. Did you ever participate in a Sales Course? YES: 76% / NO: 24% Just as no one would get on an airplane manned by an untrained commander, nor would they allow appendicitis to be operated by an unapproved doctor, having representatives not trained for the exercise will harm each consumer who Contact us since you will not receive what you require from him, which is precisely the advice that guarantees your best purchase decision. Likewise,the results you produce will always be haphazard and uncertain. Did you receive formal sales training in the last 12 months? YES: 79% / NO: 21% Technological advancement obliges every profession to undergo initial training, continuous updating and improvement. These are basic foundations that have greater validity in hypercompetitive markets since their lack only manages to be displaced from the market niche by companies that do it appropriately and systematically. Did you learn to apply a sales technique? YES: 82% / NO: 18% Sales techniques are those that allow every seller to "induce" each contact to go through the five stages of the sale process (awaken their interest, recognize their needs, accept the benefits that satisfy them,awaken and increase the desire for property and then make and execute the purchase decision). The reflection that arises for almost 1/5 of the Argentine representatives is: how can they sell then? Or also: If they do, with what level of customer satisfaction can they do it? 80% of your results, do you get them in the last week of the month? YES: 44% / NO: 56% The lack of «an effective working method» that allows the results to be constantly generated during each day of the month, means that it translates into last-minute pressures towards the sellers to achieve the objective or renounce the job. The results thus obtained by more than 50% of Argentine sellers are always at the "cost of customers", since they receive the pressure that the company exerted on the sellers.By applying a systematic detection of fresh opportunities in each niche (Prospecting), this phenomenon rejected by all clients is avoided, generating a constant growth of the portfolio with new satisfied clients and producing a continuous achievement of periodic results without this occurring in the last days of each month Are you worried about not knowing who to sell to at the beginning of each month? YES: 81% / NO: 19% A recurring instance that consists of always selling to the same customers is exhausted, it is logical the high concern expressed in the responses. Due to the lack described above,by not developing tasks that generate the amount of fresh and necessary opportunities to make their sales (Prospecting) and the only possibility of selling to their current clients and their few referrals that are not enough and necessary to generate their expected monthly results in your goals. Do you have monthly goals assigned to achieve? YES: 63% / NO: 38% All business management must have its goals, especially the sale. The non-application of sales goals denotes a serious managerial flaw in the management of such companies, since it represents not having a Business Plan that channels the actions of all its members towards their goals. To get an idea of how serious this means,Imagine a complete passenger jumbo jet commander taking off without a certain destination to get to. Do you know all your products and services in terms of "benefits" for your customers? YES: 88% / NO: 13% Due to the fact that people do not buy products or services but only the benefits that they will provide when they are owners or users of them, the seller who does not know them in these terms, simply does not sell. This is because ignorance prevents you from inducing your potential buyers to visualize a certain promise to enjoy them so that the desire to acquire them arises and they decide to buy them. You know all the products or services of your competition in the same way that yours? YES: 49% / NO:51% This ignorance limits the representatives in generating sales with their daily opportunities. Objections must be answered with knowledge of what every informed consumer will pose to the seller. Unaware of what they are talking about, he only has two options: acknowledge his ignorance or divert his attention by ignoring it. Both the first and the second option will not only make you lose a lot of sales, you also get a personal and company reputation that you represent for lack of suitability and professionalism. Have you ever read a sales book? YES: 63% / NO: 25% I have not met a doctor, engineer, lawyer, or architect who have never read a book related to their profession. Similarly,The seller who loves what he does should increase his curiosity about what other successful sellers do and enrich his knowledge and learn from his experiences developed in books. Do you think that mastering only closing techniques will achieve greater and better sales results? YES: 19% NO: 81% This answer is reflected that almost the fifth part considers that through the knowledge of closing techniques it will only produce more and better sales. It is precisely what is perceived when a seller relies on inappropriate arguments and tricks to obtain his end at the expense of the occasional buyers. When this occurs and according to its severity, dissatisfaction will produce an immediate claim for the return, always accompanied by the bitter taste of having been used for the sole purpose of the seller and his company,when you weren't ready to make the best buying decision.
Conclusions
Selling is a necessary profession in any company, the exercise of which requires a sincere predisposition, up-to-date technical knowledge, and skills and abilities of proven effectiveness. Exercising it efficiently requires intelligence applied according to the product or service, constant updating, planning of your actions and permanent effort. Although it does not require a university degree to exercise it, instead it requires loving it, having the profile according to the company and products or services, learning to exercise it professionally and constantly wanting consumer satisfaction, even in cases where you do not buy in the first interview.It also requires that the seller who completed the operation ensure their post-sale satisfaction to keep the door open for future sales and capitalize on the references they socially obtain from their satisfied customers. Only in this way can the unfocused culture towards existing sales be modified and compete evenly with the most evolved markets of our globalized and hyper-competitive world. This is: selling professionally.
