The word enemy buttress a bad omen to many people’s minds. An enemy is something that stands as a hindrance to one’s success or achieving his goals. While many people are hunting the enemy outside, their greatest enemy is inside!
Think your competitors are your worst enemies? Think again. Your worst enemies — the people most likely to keep you from making a sale work right inside your own firm!
I took time to reveal in a practical way these hidden enemies of your sales success. Read the article to reveal their true identities… you may never know they existed, but they actually do.
SALES ENEMY #1: YOU
Typical Job Titles: Sales Rep, Sales Associate, Sales Agent, etc.
Distinguishing Characteristic: You haven’t taken the time and trouble to fully develop your sales skills, attitude, business acumen, etc.
Why You’re Your Own Worst Enemy: Your sales success is up to you, regardless of what problems or enemies you face on a day-to-day basis.
How You Screw Yourself: Endless ways. You talk to customers more than you listen, you fail to prepare for customer meetings, you don’t follow-through on commitments, etc., etc., etc.
How To Cope With Your Limitations: Overcome them! Decide, right here and now, that you won’t be satisfied with ANYTHING less than the absolute BEST that you can be. Make a commitment and then take action. You know what to do!
Warning: If you actually make that commitment and take action, none of the other four enemies can possibly prevent you from becoming wildly successful in Sales.
SALES ENEMY #2: THE DICTATOR
Typical Job Titles: Sales Manager, Chief Sales Officer, Vice President of Sales, etc.
Distinguishing Characteristic: He thinks that managing a sales team means controlling everything that they say and do, and that screaming for half an hour is “coaching.”
Why He is Your Enemy: He creates a negative environment that makes it horribly difficult to sell.
How He Screws You Up: He goes on your sales calls, screws up your deals, and then blames you for the bad results.
How To Cope With Him: Stay away from the office as much as possible and keep him in the dark about the sales in your pipeline.
Warning: He may install a CRM system so he can check up on your daily activity.
SALES ENEMY #3: THE MAD MAN
Typical Job Titles: Chief Marketing Officer, Vice President of Marketing, Marketing Manager, etc.
Distinguishing Characteristic: He thinks that marketing “drives” sales or that sale is just the operative arm of a marketing campaign.
Why He is Your Enemy: He adds to the cost of sales, but adds nothing of value to the sales process.
How He Screws You Up: He spends big money on product videos and brochures full of biz-blab that makes customers roll their eyes.
How To Cope With Him: Refuse to let him take credit for any sale where he did not generate the sales lead.
Warning: He may very well have your clueless top management bamboozled into thinking that he’s actually useful.
SALES ENEMY #4: THE BEAN COUNTER
Typical Job Titles: Chief Financial Officer, Chief Efficiency Officer, Head Accountant, etc.
Distinguishing Characteristic: Obsessive concern for saving money no matter how much it costs to do so.
Why He is Your Enemy: He views sales as an expense rather than the core of the business.
How He Screws You Up: He devises rules and regulations that make it nearly impossible to sell. Example: cutting travel budgets for reps covering the entire Eastern part of the country.
How To Cope With Him: Calmly point out the revenue and profit impact of the “cost savings.” Be sure to have a spreadsheet to prove your point.
Warning: If you get frustrated, you’ll only encourage him. He feels that if he is not making you miserable, he’s not doing his job.
SALES ENEMY #5: THE BRAINIAC
Typical Job Titles: Chief Technical Officer, Head Engineer, Chief Programmer, etc.
Distinguishing Characteristic: He’s so proud of his technical achievement that he can’t imagine that a customer might not be automatically impressed.
Why He is Your Enemy: He thinks that products sell themselves and therefore sales pros are parasites.
How He Screws You Up: When he meets customers, he does a memory dump of the internal product workings, and then treats them like idiots if they don’t understand what he is talking about.
How To Cope With Him: Keep him away from your customers! If you can’t avoid such contact, prepare your customers ahead of time so that they don’t take him too seriously.
Warning: Will badmouth you mercilessly if you dare to question his technical opinions.
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