You may WIN or Lose, but first ensure you are part of the battle. We are talking about sales here !

What a pity it is to the warrior if he/she is not even part of the battle..we are talking about sales warriors here.

One of our managers always has a way of soothing sales guys who walk in with a self complaint of losing a deal to the competition.

Here is the talk –

Look, some deals we win, some we lose. 

What’s important is whether you were there in the process or not. Whether the client gave you a chance to put your offer on the table during the closing stage or not. Whether you were part of the battle or not , since being not part of the battle hurts the business more than to an individual salesperson.

While I understand you have put seemingly best efforts, there is something we can do better or avoid making a mistake next time which will ensure the client chooses us over competition. 

These words remove the discomfort created by lost deals scenarios . Also, boost our morale and help us increase our efforts around meeting rate,  market coverage and lead nurturing.

Scenarios –

Look at the scenarios of a prospect not giving you a chance to represent your offer during their decision making process – 

The prospect doesn’t know You or your brand

This scenario can be dealt with better market coverage. As a sales person, you should strive to make as many calls and meetings as possible. Especially, if you are new in the market or with the product, ensure you double down your efforts  until you touch base your potential market segment at least once. 

Note – – 

• Company’s lead generation engine alone will not help any sales person meet or over achieve their meeting rate.
• Sometimes successful sales quota achievements can bring in complacency and hinder salespeople from pushing themselves into the market but remember competition never sleeps.

The prospect doesn’t remember you in the top of their mind when they want to take a decision

This is an outcome of gaps in lead nurturing. You met the client, proposed your solution, but the prospect was not ready to make a decision immediately or in the near future. You captured the details in your CRM and forgot about it assuming the company automated lead nurturing will handle.. But the truth is, you are responsible for your lead nurturing like the way you are responsible for your target achievement. Company marketing automation can only support but can’t close the deal or sometimes may not get you a call from that particular prospect.

You stopped following up with the prospect and hence they stopped remembering you

The prospect said no to you twice, thrice and you stopped following up for the time period. After  a few weeks or months you reconnected with them only to realise the prospect gave the deal to your competition who has been constantly in touch with them until the prospect said yes.

Here are some interesting statics from several studies  

Knowing these stats should definitely help us prioritise our sales follow ups and lead nurturing.

Happy Selling!