The entire sales industry is too proud to admit it, but there’s a bit big problem: Salespeople are not trained to do their job. 

According to data from Task Drive, nearly 70% of all salespeople say they . Instead, they describe themselves as “self-ﷺtaꩵught social sellers.”

Ho🌠nestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the number is even higher.

When I travel the world and talk to sales teams from all kinds of businesses, I hear 🃏pretty much the same thing: salespeople are undertrained. What this tells me is this: We aren’t taking sales as seriously as we should be, and our success rates are proof. 

A 2023 report from Sal𒐪esforce showed that only .  

When you put it together, it makes sense. 💧Untrained salespeople and disappointing sales suc🔯cess rates. So, why aren’t more businesses trying to solve this?

Let’s dive into the why behind these numbers.

Unhealthy sales culture: ‘This is the way we’ve always done things’

The sad thing about sales is that almost everyone has accept💮ed the way it is. Let's consider some common sales problems:

• Low close rates
• Long sales cycles
• High turnover
• Burnout 

What’s so funny to me is that these problems are all solvable as soon as we stop saying “that’s the way we’ve always done things.”

In other words, each𒁏 of these problems is fixable. And if we keep accepting them as a 🌃matter of fact, the failure will be on us, as business leaders. 

We just have to decide to solve them.

Let’s get serious about the very problems I named above. I believe we can solve them if we actually try. In fact, I’ve 🧸seen hundreds of businesse✨s do just that when they stop accepting the way things have always been.

Problem: Low close rates

Solution: Let me take you into the mindset of buyers. They get into a sales meeting and think, “Okay🧔, here we go, here’s the well-rehearsed sales pitch.” From the get-go, they’re on the defensive, wary of being upsol♓d or talked into buying something they don’t want. 

The solution to low close rates is not to sell harder and pitch more — it’s to pitch less. 🔥Data shows that salespeople who are good listeners, are trustworthy, and are focused on relationships are the ones who close more deals♕. 

So slow down, ask good questions, and 168极速赛车官网:really understand your buyers. The less you pitch, the more you sell. 

When you build relationships, you build trust. And customers are way more likely to buy from someone they trust. That’s been true forever.

Problem: Long sales cycles

Solution: When buyers are approaching a big purchase,💦 ꦿthey want information. They have questions, fears, worries, and concerns, and the better you address them, the better the chance the deal will move forward. 

Ye👍ars ago, I discovered that the more content a prospect had consumed, the more likely they wer⛎e to buy. 

So, if I could hand them content that answerꦚed t🍨heir most pressing questions, they’d move forward. 

This was the birth of what I called “168极速赛车官网:assignment selling.” Ahead of a sales meeting, the re♛p “assigns” certain pieces of content that address those common concerns. That way, when the meeting takes place, the salesperson doesn’t need to spend time answering surface-level concerns. The conversation can focus on that buyer’s specific needs. 

Assignment selling can cut a sales cycle in half — and result in happier buyers and more producti༺ve salespeople.

Problem: High turnover on your sales team

Solution: A lot of the businesses I talk t⭕o are tired of a revolving door of salespeople who don’t stick around. They bring someone ꦬin, train them, and then see them leave a few months later. 

The solution is 168极速赛车官网:reimagining sales as a team sport. Now, I know this gets into some deep-seated beliefs about sales culture, but bear with me.&nღbsp;

T🍨he reason so many salespeople leave is that they’re not set u🐈p for success. They’re isolated, running high-stakes meetings, and they’re undertrained and unsupported. 

Thi🐟nk about it: In every other part of our business, from leadership to design, to customer service𒁃, to marketing — we ask teams of people to work together.

We♋’ve come to understand that collaboration fuels creativity and provides support. We know that discussions produce better outcomes than isolated decisions. We know that teams do better work than indivꦛiduals do. 

Yet we’re still selling like every salesperson iꦗs a one-man band. And we know it’s not working.

When we bring a 💝team focus to sales, our reps support each other and improve their performance together. That’s a win for all involved. 

Problem: Burnout on your sales team

Solution: For a long time, I’ve heard the mantra that we just need to get our salespeople more at-bats. While I think there’s some truth to that, at-bats aren’t the only thing salespeo⛎ple need. They need training. They need real feedback. They need practice.  

The “more at-bats” approach suggests th🥀at salespeople just need to get up there🗹 are keep swinging. 

But Iﷺ think baseball is the wrong spo💝rts analogy here. Instead, think of (American) football.

Our salespeople need to: 

• Watch game film (more on that later)
• Walk through their plays
• Work with coaches to improve their technique — even down to nuances

That’s how you get better. And that’s howღ you avoid burnout. 

There you go. Four big problem🐟s, four plausible solutions. But they all stem from the same idea: Our salespeople need more training to be at their best. If we don’t give it to them, we’re accepting the same outcomes to continue. 

The small step you can take today: Recording your sales calls

Poor sales performance is a big problem, I know. There’s a good chance that it’s entrenched in your o💃rgan♏ization, which makes it hard to start to solve.

But there’s a small step you can take that will start you moving in the right direction: Start 🐽recording your sales calls.

There’s a good chance your sales calls already take place over Zoom or Google Meet. S🐟o, tell your team to press record. 

♊The quicker you normalize ca💫ll recordings, the quicker you normalize feedback.

Here’s why call recordings matter:

• At the very least, they create a record of a conversation. This means a salesperson has something to refer back to ahead of a second call with the same customer

• They prompt self-study. When they look again at a former call, they naturally critique their performance and notice things they could have done better.
• They enable meaningful feedback from managers. If a sales manager has access to recordings from every rep, he can watch on his own time and provide actually, pointed observations and critiques
• They make role-plays feel natural. All of a sudden, you have the recipe for a role-play, which is where the real magic happens. A sales manager sees a call recording and offers some advice: Try not to fill the silence so quickly. Let your questions linger and let your prospect think about them. What’s the natural next step? Practice the skill. 

But you can’t do any of this if you d♈on’t have ♏the recordings.

Train your sales team, change your outcomes

Don’t accept low close rates. Don’t accept long sales cycles. Do somet꧒hing about high turnover. Do something about burnout.

W💟hen we commit to training and supporting our salespeople, better outcomes are possible. When we don’t, we keep getting the sameꦚ results.

If you want to learn more about sales training for your team, 168极速赛车官网:reach out to us at IMPACT. We provide customized training that can change the lives of your salespeople — and the future of your com𓆉pany.