MARKETING TIP #037
Top 4 Sales Mistakes
John Asher has had a stellar sales career. He’s sold over $2 billion worth of business, managed hundreds of sales managers, sales people and sales reps and trained over 12,000 sales people, sales managers and CEOs. As a TEC speaker, he’s been on the circuit preaching the sales gospel. Here are the top four sales mistakes he says to watch for:
Top 4 Sales Mistakes
John Asher has had a stellar sales career. He’s sold over $2 billion worth of business, managed hundreds of sales managers, sales people and sales reps and trained over 12,000 sales people, sales managers and CEOs. As a TEC speaker, he’s been on the circuit preaching the sales gospel. Here are the top four sales mistakes he says to watch for:
- Promoting your best sales person to sales manager. The skills needed for the positions are different and the "hunter" sales person will get restless and inefficient doing a manager’s job.
- Confusing branding, marketing, sales and customer service. Asher
distinguishes them this way:
- Branding: Raising market awareness and brand recognition
- Marketing: Obtaining qualified leads
- Sales: Making 12 contacts with a qualified lead to close the sale
- Customer Service: Growing the account by upselling, cross-selling and obtaining referrals.
- Failing to have a repeatable sales process. "399 out of 400 CEOs tell me that they want a repeatable process," notes Asher. The basic sales process needs to be developed and put into place by top management, including a sales manual that includes prospecting, qualification, pursuit and closing processes.
- Misunderstanding the CEOs role in hiring. Asher says it should be a top job for CEOs to be hiring high performers. He recommends that the CEO identify the individuals, build relationships with them, and position the company as the "go to" employer of choice.
Talk to you soon,
Kae Groshong Wagner
CEO, Founder — North Star Marketing
Award-winning Author, Speaker
Brand Consultant
CEO Advisor for Sales & Marketing