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Shedding Sales' Less-Than-Stellar Image
February 11, 2008
No one ever said sales was an easy trade to ply, but it definitely doesn't help matters when prospects have preconceived notions about your charges…and we're not talking about positive ones.
An alarming 46% of people with buying responsibility wouldn't be proud to call themselves sales professionals, according to a new report by Development Dimensions International. A global human resources consulting firm, DDI surveyed 2,700 corporate buyers from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the U.S. and the U.K. late last year to explore views of and experiences with the sales profession.
"If salespeople can provide the support buyers are looking for, our study shows they can shift from being perceived as a necessary evil to an indispensable partner," says Bradford Thomas, DDI's manager of sales talent practice. "Despite all the time and money spent training salespeople to be consultative, they are not making inroads to becoming business partners."
Here are some of the top findings from the research:
• Shed the "snake-oil" reputation. When asked if they would be proud to call themselves a salesperson, 46% of respondents said "no thanks" to the profession. And who can blame them, when descriptions of salespeople in the study include charm school graduates, leeches and rashes?
"Sales organizations have made great strides toward becoming better business advisors over the last 10 years, but it's still difficult to make these inroads because the perception of salespeople isn’t always positive," Thomas says. "The general perception of buyers is that salespeople don't listen, they are pushy and really don't take the time to understand buyers' needs—or even their own products. It is hard to be a business advisor when the relationship is a one-way street."
• It's not all peace, love and understanding. Some 41% of respondents rated the overall quality of the sales profession as "fair" or "poor." "Salespeople shouldn't settle for this mediocre perception," Thomas says. "And companies shouldn't either. Do you really want most of your customers to feel lukewarm about your sales team?"
More than 40% of buyers have increased their expectations of salespeople's business and industry knowledge. And one in five buyers believe that salespeople's expertise is getting worse. One US. buyer said the problem is "too many under-trained, underpaid young professionals who probably won't be there in a year. They have few resources for information and aren't trained to know how or where to look for help."
"Salespeople need to keep up with the changing needs and demands of their clients to meet these rising expectations," Thomas says. "If you want your salespeople to build value-added relationships with clients, you need to hire people who are good listeners and problem solvers, not hit-and-run sellers."
• Rules of engagement. When asked if they considered their sales contacts to be business partners, 54% of buyers said "yes." So, what makes a good partner? Buyers cited "product or service advice," "market knowledge" and "trust" as the top three qualities they value the most in a salesperson. Surprisingly, only 31% of buyers selected "relationship building" as a desired quality.
"In the wake of years of public business scandals, trust has really become a precursor to relationship building," Thomas says. "Salespeople have to provide extra value in order to earn the right to be viewed as a trusted business advisor."
Sales & Marketing Management Magazine
This article is brought to you by Sales & Marketing Management, the leading authority for executives in the sales and marketing field.
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