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SALES IS BROKEN. ANSWER THESE 5 QUESTIONS TO FIX IT

Post by Anthony Iannarino
October 6, 2021

“Some people don't like change, but you need to embrace change if the
alternative is disaster.” –Elon Musk





ANSWERING IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ON WHY SALES IS BROKEN

HubSpot recently asked survey respondents if they would want help from a
salesperson to learn about a product. Only 29% wanted that help, while the other
71% preferred to learn about the product themselves. Let's assume these numbers
are directionally right and that a large percentage of people would prefer not
to acquire the help of a salesperson. To start reversing that trend, we need to
answer several questions.


WHY WOULD SUCH A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE AVOID GETTING HELP OF A SALESPERSON?

Forrester reports that 59% of buyers would rather do their own research than
deal with a salesperson, largely because they believe the salesperson will push
their own agenda. This brings up another important question. 


WHAT DO SALESPEOPLE DO THAT CAUSES CONTACTS TO BELIEVE THEY ARE PURSUING THEIR
OWN AGENDA?

Before CEB was Gartner, they released the infamous talking point that
fifty-seven percent of clients’ decisions are made before ever speaking to a
salesperson. This statistic was misinterpreted by the "Inbound-Only" charlatans
to suggest there was no reason to pursue cold outreach, least of all the cold
call. Brent Adamson recorded a video for me to explain that you are supposed to
show up in your buyer’s world before they start their journey.

One reason people are further down the path than you might expect is the
proliferation of information. But that doesn’t fully explain the tendency to
wait to engage with a salesperson until after you have done your research.

Other statistics show that many buyers suffer from buyer's remorse. Harvard
Business Review published data showing that seventy percent of all B2B change
initiatives fail. And yet, few people connect these poor results with letting
people without the knowledge and experience decide what's best for them.

In The Lost Art of Closing: Winning the 10 Commitments That Drive Sales, I
argued that it is the salesperson's duty to control the process, preventing
their clients from making mistakes by avoiding the work of buying.

Sales cycles are growing ever-longer, with almost 75% of B2B sales taking four
months and close to 50% taking seven months or more. There is evidence that B2B
sales cycles have grown by 22% in the past five years, driven at least partly by
the presence of many more stakeholders.


WHAT ARE SALESPEOPLE DOING—OR NOT DOING—TO CAUSE SALES CYCLES TO GROW LONGER?

The Bureau of Labor Statistic counts 15.8 million people in sales. They believe
that 2–3 million are in B2B sales roles. The studies show that between 57% and
67% of salespeople do not hit their sales targets. 23% of surveyed organizations
don't even know if their sales force reached their quota or not.


WHY DO SO FEW SALESPEOPLE REACH THEIR TARGET GOALS? WHAT PREVENTS THEM FROM
REACHING THEIR QUOTA?

If the data is correct, and I believe it is, a salesperson spends about
one-third of their time actively selling. I have also seen a report that
internal communication dominates most salespeople’s time, with email stealing
the most hours that might be spent selling.


WHAT SHOULD SALESPEOPLE DO TO BE ABLE TO SPEND THEIR TIME CREATING AND WINNING
OPPORTUNITIES? WHAT DO THEIR SALES MANAGERS NEED TO DO TO HELP PROTECT THEIR
TIME?

Perhaps the worst way sales is broken shows up in broken salespeople. The
average tenure of a salesperson has declined from 2.5 years in 2010 to 1.5 years
in 2018. The main reason they cite for leaving is unrealistic quotas.


WHAT MAKES A QUOTA UNREALISTIC?

I'd lay this one at the feet of sales leaders and sales managers spending more
time on internal functions than training and coaching their salespeople. If
sales is broken, then sales leadership is broken.





EXITING THE LEGACY APPROACHES AND ADOPTING A MODERN APPROACH

The late Andy Grove, the legendary CEO of Intel, helped popularize the concept
of an inflection point, the point when the trajectory turns sharply in another
direction. When you miss an inflection point, you continue doing things how you
are accustomed to, not recognizing that new contexts have made your approach
obsolete.

The world has undergone incredible technological change over the last twenty
years, revolutionizing both how we buy and sell. Things move faster now, there
is greater transparency, and new models have disrupted an already disruptive
environment. Yet, while few would argue that nothing has changed, we have done
too little over too long a time to catch up to what is now required to succeed
in sales—and to lead salespeople.

Both buyers and sellers are failing: few initiatives provide the results buyers
need, while sellers fail to reach their goals. That’s an indication that we need
a reset. Instead, we get automated sequencers and yet another technological
offering that promises to revolutionize sales.

It's time we exit the legacy approaches to selling and get serious about
adopting a modern approach. Modernizing sales would encourage our prospective
clients to engage with a salesperson, one who has been enabled to create value
in something like a facilitated, needs-based buyer's journey, allowing them to
enable the right decision and deliver the results their clients need.


TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR MAKING CHANGE

One lie that I tell myself is that everything is my fault. I prefer to believe
this lie because it empowers me to take responsibility for making whatever
change is necessary. Even though there are forces I have no power to change, I
have the power to change what I do in response these forces, and so do you.

Nothing changes until you change. If you think change is challenging, wait until
you discover how much more challenging it is to stay the same.

 

 

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Post by Anthony Iannarino
October 6, 2021


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