Stats That Affect Your Stats!

“If you could change anything about the way you approach selling, the thing that will make the biggest difference would be your attitude — your attitude toward your customers, your service, the benefits of your products, your employer, and yourself." -Dan Brent Burt


There was a recent study conducted by the prestigious Harvard Business School* that surveyed 138 customers from a broad range of industries, who are responsible for making business-to-business purchases for large companies in North America.

The following statistics clearly show that attention and care must ALWAYS be paid to how you sell and the manner in which you sell!

According to the Harvard findings…

26% of sales people "Don't follow my company's buying process"
18% "Don't listen to my needs"
17% "Don't follow up"
12% "Are pushy, agressive, or disrespectful"
10% "Don't explain solutions adequately"
6% "Make exaggerated or inaccurate claims"
4% "Don't understand my business"
3% "Are too familiar"
2% "Don't know or respect the competition"
2% Other (such as charge high prices)

Pardon the admonishment, but if any of these behaviors tend to hit home, they will soon begin (if they haven't already), to have a negative impact on your customer’s decision making; your performance; and ultimately your company’s bottom line!

It doesn’t take a Rocket Scientist (does it?), to figure out which side your bread is buttered on.

I encourage you to take an honest, reflective look at the responses given by the Survey participants--if you recognize yourself as committing any of these costly blunders, then now is the time to change the way you represent yourself and your company.

Your prospect should always be left with an indelible impression of your professionalism, integrity and willingness to understand/meet their needs. That way everyone walks away with something to feel good about!

*(Source: Harvard Business Review—authors Tom Atkinson & Ron Koprowski