Biggest Factor that Stifles Sales Growth

From working with sales teams, business development managers and business owners over the last three decades, I’ve noticed the main factor to stifle sales growth is Excuses. The top seven of these are:

1. No leads
2. No demand
3. No strategy or planning
4. The competition is too strong
5. A downturn in the economy
6. Poor sales skills
7. Unrealistic targets/expectations

There are also valid reasons for not reaching sales targets in the short term, such as the recent COVID19 scare, or a dip in personal performance.

However, three aspects that you can control and will enable you to be successful in the sales arena are:

1. Mindset: Have a positive attitude and a growth mindset. Protect your mindset by interacting with people who understand and support your aspirations, such as colleagues, peers, mentors and coaches. Mindset is everything in handling the volumes of “NO” that you will encounter.
2. Activity: Sales is a numbers game. Activity breeds more activity which brings results. Have a definitive daily plan that ensures on-going activity to fill the sales pipeline. Make activity a daily habit.
3. Sales Skills: Sales expertise is 80% experience. You fine-tune your sales skills, expression and interactions and you learn which approaches and platforms work best to engage prospects based on results and feedback. The other 20% of sales skills are learned via training, reading, audio, video, peer advice or from coaching/mentoring. The greatest salespeople strive to get better year on year and take the time to broaden their knowledge