There is one thing that Sales and Marketing departments agree on: referrals are the best lead source for a business, whether in a B2B or B2C context. The good things about referrals are that they have a positive impact on the closing ratio, the length of the sales cycle, and the average customer lifetime value.

Although most of us know how powerful referrals are, only very few sales teams incorporate an “asking for referral” stage in their sales process. What’s the problem with that? There are several actually! Some salespeople will waste a considerable amount of time prospecting only to add a few new opportunities in their sales pipeline, others will not prospect at all and will act as farmers or account managers when in fact they should hunt. In both cases, this is a sure way to fall short of expectations and miss the numbers! According to Edelman Trust Barometer, 84% of B2B decision makers start the buying process with a referral. Knowing that, you may want to reconsider how you want to leverage referrals.

All representatives should constantly pursue a common goal: to become a better salesperson. Whether your sales career is well underway or not, several resources are available for you to continuously develop your potential.

In a previous article, I explained to you what a good salesperson is. Now, let’s look at the 6 best ways to achieve this, as well as 2 traps to avoid.

What are the 4 main reasons salespeople don’t take responsibility for themselves and make excuses?

• Company pricing,
• Competition,
• The economy,
• The salespeople themselves.

The first 3 are not in the salesperson’s control, hence we focus on the latter, which they can control no matter the peripheral elements.

Responsibility is the degree to which a salesperson takes responsibility for results rather than rationalizing or making excuses.

It’s unavoidable.

As a sales representative, you’ll confront resistance at some point in the sales process, usually at the prospecting phase. Recognizing resistance and knowing how to defuse it are essential competencies to master.

Though you may encounter different types of resistance, the solution can often be summarized with one word: Disarm.

Perfect this skill, and you’ll find there’s no resistance you can’t overcome.

One of the greatest misconceptions in sales is that you need to be an extrovert to succeed.

This goes hand in hand with the greatest stereotype of a salesperson; a used car salesman. A loud, boisterous, opinionated person who assumes to know which car is best suited for you, without having heard a word come out of your mouth. People easily remember these kinds of bad experiences, and so they feed the stereotypes.

The good experiences are the ones in which the salesperson makes it appear as if the client has made their own decision. By asking the right questions, the salesperson guides them into understanding and uncovering the solution to their pain point.

There's a big difference between the image you certainly have of a good salesperson and reality. I regularly have the chance to present good candidates for sales positions to business leaders and sales leaders. I'm always fascinated to see how the image that people have of what a good salesperson should be doesn't correspond to reality.

Our partner, Objective Management Group, has evaluated close to 2 Million, and I share with you what we have learned from this experience.