Which Toxic Sales Assets Do You Need to Dump Today? by Jill Konrath

Action oriented. Forward thinking. Positive attitude. Sound like you? If so, your financial future may be at significant risk.

With the state of today's economy, it's not enough to be an aggressive optimist with an eye on the future. After all, that's what caused our current economic crisis. Financial firms neglected to do their due diligence - assuming their strategies would continue to be highly profitable.

As sellers, it's also easy for us to keep our eye on the future while overlooking the present. The truth is that it's not enough to keep making those calls, working harder and harder, focused only on winning the business.

Instead, you need to know which of your sales assets are working for you. And, you need to know which are dragging you down, making it difficult to capitalize on the opportunities you've uncovered.

That's why it's imperative for us to take a serious inventory of our personal knowledge and skills on a regular basis.

Here are just a few of the toxic sales assets I see sellers use every single day.

• Winging It: Failing to adequately prepare for sales calls is enough to get you dismissed or deleted immediately by time-sensitive decision makers.

• Diarrhea of the Mouth: If you're doing the majority of the talking, you're negatively impacting your credibility and connection with your customers.

• Inadequate Knowledge: Today's buyers have no tolerance for sellers who refuse to "pay the price of admission" and haven't researched their organization.

• Product/Service Dumps: The people you're calling on don't care about your offering. Period. If that's your focus, they'll tune you out in no time flat.

• Too Much Too Quick: When you rush the sales or give too much data in one meeting, your prospect gets overwhelmed and pulls back from you.

None of us are immune from screwing up! Last week I shared my blooper in an article called, Oops! Don't Make These Same Mistakes That I Just Did.

The key is to be ruthless in analyzing your sales assets. What worked for you in the past may no longer be effective. In fact, it may have actually turned into a toxic sales asset that needs to be removed from your portfolio.

After every call, analyze what worked and where you ran into trouble. Be on the lookout for toxic behaviors that cause your customers to throw up objections, tell you they're not interested or choose another company to work with.

Hanging onto those toxic sales assets of dubious value could lead to lost opportunities, a major meltdown in your pipeline and potentially, the demise of your sales career.

No one is going to bail you out! Dump those toxic sales assets today. Your ability to replace ineffective sales skills with new ones is essential for your ongoing success.

About The Author:

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into corporate accounts, shorten sales cycles and win big contracts. She is a frequent speaker at annual sales meetings and association events.



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