HTSS76 - The hard Truth about closers vs average salespeople - Scott Sylvan Bell

The hard truth about closers vs average salespeople 

Some sales content hurts peoples feelings. This could be a salesperson who thinks they are better than what they really produce. A business owner or manager can become upset from hearing criticism about what they do and how they do it.

What people forget is there is always someone who can see what you are doing right and what you are doing that is hurting your processes and or ways you work. Sales is no different. We all want to see ourselves for being the best.

What you need to know is not everyone in sales can be a closer or will be a closer. Not all companies are good at hiring salespeople.

In the world of sales closers can be hard to find. It may be difficult for some to articulate why and for some people until they are told they have not clue that there even is a problem.

There is no universal ruler to measure salespeople

As salespeople are stacked up against each other in the world of sales there isn’t a true way to test who is the best. There are plenty of subjective things to take a look at:

• Closing rate
• Average sale
• Profitability

What isn’t looked at the same in all industries are:

• Types of leads and how they are acquired
• Type of product being sold
• KPI’s (Key performance indicators)

The formula to find top salespeople:

There are so many different areas to take a look at and there isn’t one universal standard. There are 3 things that sales can be based upon. There is a formula when it comes to looking for top salespeople, closers and or performers:

Unique abilities and experiences + personality + sales skills = sales talents  

The reason to look at this formula is because there are multiple types of salespeople out there. You can have passive salespeople who can close every deal and you can have aggressive salespeople who can close just as good.  When you look at styles you may ask who is better? – the answer is the one who closes profitable deals.

The definition of types of salespeople  

Since there are so many ways to take a look at the ways salespeople can sell there are not real defined categories. Most companies cant define who they have working for them.  This lack of categorization can create problems when explaining what type of salesperson is being hired or sought after.  

The types of salespeople:

To make it easy there really are 4 types of salespeople that can be defined. Some salespeople will choose one of these categories to stick in and become comfortable. The top salesperson who is the performer is the epitome of talent.

• Sales associate – 80% of the population of sales. This could also include people who are new to sales and just getting started. are everywhere. Most salespeople here are concerned about the price so they become a price matcher and or discounter to close deals. Most sales problems come from this group of salespeople in the form of complaints from buyers. If the salesperson isn’t new a sales associate is maxed out here and for the most part will struggle getting better. The sales associate is the person who isn’t worried about their development and making some money is good enough for them. There is the possibility of shifting from sales associate to salesperson with the right work and effort. Companies can find sales associates anywhere, at any time.
• Salesperson – This salesperson can close sales and they are in the top 20%. This salesperson can be hired and acquired. For the most part they are profitable. They may have hit their peak or they may have more skills to develop. Salespeople become harder to find in the world of sales. They can be acquired from companies.
• The sales closer – This salesperson can close deals consistently and profitably. This is rough 5% of the sales population. This caliber of salesperson gets tougher to woo away from a company but it can be done.
• The sales performer – The top 1% of salespeople in the world of sales. This salesperson is highly profitable. This person literally closes everything they tough. It may be tough to hire this salesperson because they are usually getting everything they want

The fake closer

Some salespeople are taken care of by the office or from the way they get leads. This salesperson thinks they can close everything but in all realities they are not as good as they think they are. There are times where a shift happens in business and exposes them for who and what they are. This salesperson may even go and try to get information changed about their sales numbers so they look better than what they are. Most of the time this salesperson doesn’t have good sales skills or capabilities.

Most industries have different measuring sticks so the top salespeople are not always found and developed. Some of the fraudulent salespeople do not get the microscope help over them so they are not found out. Fake closers hurt team moral and even can cause long term disruptions.

Evert salesperson cant be a closer  

Most salespeople think they are closers. Its not possible for the entire population of sales to be a closer. When you look at sales skills most salespeople are one step off what they think they are. Those who say they are performers are really closers, those who say they are closers are really salespeople. Those who say they are salespeople are typically sales associates.  

One of the reasons why you have so many people say they are closers comes down to this idea: Sales is about building up ideas so salespeople are used to talking themselves up. This is why salespeople will talk themselves into an interview and never show, they don’t want to be caught for what they are not.  

Some salespeople are scared that if they show their goods others will steal them. The ability to sell comes down to knowledge + sales skills + implementation. Even if most salespeople are shown new content they will never use it properly anyway.  

Management issues

Most companies don’t know how to hire salespeople. The average company will hire people pleasers. This type of salesperson is typically passive with weak sales skills. Most people pleasers don’t have the sales skills to be top salespeople.

Some companies don’t look at the profits or he leads that are sold. A closer may be giving away the farm but in their mind they are closing deals. The company may not see that they don’t have a closer they have a price matcher or discounter.  

Most sales managers duplicate themselves. If you sell how you buy, you will also hire how you sell. If you have a sales manager that is weak at sales and skills they will typically find people equal to or less than their skills.  This is the true definition of 80/20 salesmanship. Every once in a while a closer is hired but this isn’t always the case.

What companies can do to get better salespeople

If you are a business owner or a sales manager you can get better salespeople. You will want to know up front you will probably hurt some feelings from taking these actions. You will want to set best practices and benchmarks better than the industry. If the industry says that the average salesperson closes 30% you will want to find people who close at 40%  

In order to have the right abilities you will need to commit to working with the sales team. Be willing to train consistently and hold salespeople accountable for what they do and what they don’t do.  

You will want to make sure to hire better and use a stronger practice to find the top talent.  You will always want to keep an eye out for top salespeople

Last of all be willing to look at how much more profitable salespeople are and pay better to acquire this salesperson. If someone closes at a higher rate than the rest of the team they are more profitable over the long run. Be willing to use this offset in sales to pay them better.

Not everyone in the world of sales is supposed to be a closer. You will have to take some time to find the right people and build the right team.

Scott Sylvan Bell

@Scottsbell

#sales #closer #success #podcast #Howtosellshow #Sacramento

This episode was recorded in Sacramento California