Why Do So Many Salespeople Under Perform?

First, two statistics:

• It's a widely accepted axiom that 20 percent of  salespeople close 80 percent of sales at most companies.
• According to most of the sales experts, recruiters and trainers around, only about 5 percent of all salespeople will ever become A-players.

These statistics beg the question: "Why do 95 percent of salespeople under perform the other 5 percent?"

And the answer is ...

"Because they value control over their daily activities more than they value money."

It's a myth that people enter the sales profession because they value money. It's not money they value, it's control.

If you want to eliminate the frustrations of dealing with salespeople, you have but one choice.

Stop hiring people who want control.

Or you can continue fighting your existing control war forever.

Your choice. You are, after all, in control of who has control.

Gill E. Wagner, Sage of Selling
President of Honest Selling
Founder of the Yellow-Tie International Business Development Association

Comments

[Gill Wagner]

Any and all daily activities, especially the PITA ones.

That's why it's so hard to get salespeople to do paperwork, dial the phone 50 more times, send Thank You notes, or any of the myriad things the owners know they should be doing to identify opportunities and close deals.

It's a control war, plain and simple.

[Andrew]

Control over what sort of daily activities?