Sales Blog for Sales and Sales Management

First, you can't lose a sale that you didn't have. Sales people are great at telling about the sales that they lost.  That's like getting a fish in the boat and having the fish jump out of the boat. You had it then you didn't. That is losing. What sales people are really describing is 'not winning the sale'.  You may say it's semantics:  if you don't win, then you must have lost.  Okay, so maybe we should say that people are "awarded" the business like they do with public bids instead of calling it "winning" and "losing". But that is not the point of this post.  Winning, not losing, is the point of the blog.

Let's list the many way we describe losing sales:

• They got a better price from the current provider
• The CEO is related to the owner of the company that got the business
• We got in the deal too late
• Our products were not as competitive
• Underwriting didn't want the deal
• I couldn't get to the decision maker
• The committee decided not to make a change
• The timing was bad
• They are afraid to make a change now
• They liked us
• We made a great presentation
• We demonstrated our skills so the next time we go out to bid, they'll know who we are (I love that one)

Should I go on?  All the reasons that you have come up with over the years as to why you didn't get the deal all come down to one thing - you didn't get the deal.

I'm reading the book, "Thirteen Moons". The main character, Will Cooper, describes death and dying.  To paraphrase: whether someone is killed in battle or in a bar fight, in the end, the winners go about their lives and the dead people are, well, just dead. It doesn't matter to the dead people if it was a glorious battle for freedom or if was some drunk guy in a bar who took aim at someone else and shot the wrong guy. Dead is dead, nothing glorious about it at all. The dead people didn't want to die but they did.

There isn't anything admirable about not getting a sale either.  You can sugar coat it all you want, but looking good and having people like you and making a great presentation isn't nearly as good as getting the business. Surely you didn't present a solution just to 'practice' or demonstrate your capabilities. That doesn't pay very well.

Winning is hearing yes:

• Yes, you can talk to the decision maker
• Yes, I will schedule an appointment with you
• Yes, I have a problem that I have to fix
• Yes, I will invest the right amount of time or money to fix the problem
• Yes, I will make a decision when you present your solution
• Yes, I will buy from you
• Yes, I will introduce you to others

That is winning.

In 2010, when you think about what you want to accomplish this year, think about winning, what it really means and then go do everything possible to win more.  Sure, you'll lose some.  When you do, take it personally; get mad, figure out what you should have done differently and then go out and work to win again.