“It’s a game,” the company’s top salesperson coached. “If you don’t close the deal, they win.”
We’ve all met hard closers like these. They’re the ones who gave sales such a bad name in the last century. They’re still around and they still make us cringe.
Only now, sales managers need to be leery of this type.
When you see hard closers exceed their numbers, it’s easy to hold them up as a model to the rest of the team. But there are real dangers to using ‘always be closing’ in 2017. According to Hubspot, those sales come back to bite the salesperson, the manager, and company in the rear.
Short-term, unsustainable wins.
Yes, the prospect bought. But the experience leaves the new customer feeling cheated and taken advantage of. Even if they get real benefits from the product. When the contract comes up for renewal, they will have lots of options to choose from.
Buyers talk to each other.
Buyers don’t wait for the end of the sales cycle to ask for references. They call other users. They check Yelp, LinkedIn and Facebook. You never want Love the product, hated the salesperson—attached to anyone on your team. When that turns up on social media, that salesperson’s reputation suffers, and your company will feel it, too.
Always be closing can ruin your company’s brand.
When people feel cheated by the sales experience, all they see once they start to use the product are the negatives. The “cheated” customer says, “It works okay, but it’s slow as a snail.” The customer who’s treated with respect says, “It’s a little slow, but it works really well.”
How we sell today.
Today’s best salespeople aren’t trying to close the deal at “Hello”. They like sales because they like people. They’re more interested in building a relationship than closing a deal.
Rollio was made to help salespeople like these be more productive. Reps simply talk to Rollio like they talk to a customer, and Rollio records the info in Salesforce.com for them.
A five-minute update can take less than two. So they can spend more time doing what they do best. Talking to people and building your brand. And closing the kinds of deals that lead to long-term customer satisfaction.