Probably the number one problem with traditional sales training is the over-use of the phrase “always be closing.” ABC is indoctrinated into salespeople like a mantra despite the fact that it is often highly counter-productive. ABC should be “Always Be Conscious.”
Being conscious of the customer, their needs, their body language, their objections, and their reactions is the difference between being the pushy “shove them in the funnel and close” salesperson and being the one who gets them to the close without either party consciously knowing the close has come.
Sales is not about pushing prospects towards the close. It’s about showing prospects what you have to offer and how that can help them. It’s about learning their needs and finding ways to meet those needs. Salespeople who fake sincerity and pretend to listen while always scheming to push the customer towards a sale might be great short-term winners, but they are rarely long-term successes. We all know that previous clients are the easiest to sell to again, but if those clients feel manipulated rather than served, they aren’t going to come back. Nor are they going to tell their friends to come to you.
Sales teams should be trained to always be listening to the prospect, to never ignore or gloss over their objections, and always be asking how they can continue to help the client. Asking questions, ignoring the script when needed, or bypassing the obviously unneeded steps of the funnel should all be things the salesperson is comfortable doing.
Often, this type of training is directly counter to what sales teams have been told before. It’s very likely counter to everything they’re doing by “instinct” thanks to that previous training. Yet throwing out the ABC and bringing in conscientiousness can be the number one improvement your sales team can gain. It can change their effectiveness in such a way as to bring the entire force to a new level. It also breeds customer service that tends to spread from the sales team to the rest of the staff and eventually means long-term success as customers become loyal friends.
Countering the old “ABC” ritual is not easy, but it can be done and is well worth the effort. The first step is to be sure that the salesperson understands why always closing is not a good thing. Although most people in sales are paid by commission, and thus their incentive is to close, once the longer-term idea of taking more time with each prospect with the payoff of a larger percentage of sales and many more longer-term sales as a result usually makes sense. If a salesperson’s average is 1 in 20 weekly and increasing that average to 2 in 15 weekly because more time was spent means they’ve nearly tripled their productivity.
Once that first hurdle is overcome, the remainder of the training process is to remind them to keep ignoring the old ABC script and instead focus on the prospect in every way. Listening, learning, fulfilling needs, asking questions.. these all lead to better prospects and the “surprise close” – the close neither of you really knew was coming until it happens. These “natural sales” are far more productive and create loyalty that cannot be found otherwise.