Salespeople 'must learn the lessons from a lost sale'

Losing a sale, particularly after a long selling process, is disappointing for all involved at a company but it is vital that the sales staff dissect the situation and find out why the customer chose their competitor instead, which is an area where a sales consultancy could provide expert help.

David Brock, writing for the Partners in Excellence Blog, claims that a client of his recently went through such an experience and in discussions afterwards, sales staff cited many things they did to push through the deal, including visiting the prospect, testing the equipment, modifying it and offering a support service for them.

They were at a loss as to why the client had decided to go with a competitor, especially given the fact that their rival was charging more for the same product.

In the talks which followed, Mr Brock helped them understand that the problem was that they were not focusing on issues that were relevant to the customer.

"Too often, salespeople only ask enough questions to launch them into their pitch - having heard a keyword or issue brought up. We don't note it, then keep drilling down, asking more, getting at everything that's on the customer's mind," he concluded.

A similar point was recently made by Jonathan Farrington, chairman of JF Corporation, who said on his personal blog that sales staff must pinpoint a client's motivation for wanting a particular product and service and demonstrate how it is the perfect solution.