Topic: Sales Skills

Selling is tough. Even the most seasoned sales teams hit unexpected bumps in the road.
But data shows that many deals are lost simply because of fixable missteps during the sales experience. In fact, buyers say that over half of lost deals were winnable if sellers hadn’t dropped the ball somehow. Worse yet, sellers and buyers don’t align on why those deals fell apart.
When a deal is lost, sellers tend to cite factors beyond their control, like pricing or missing features. But buyer feedback reveals very different reasons. And the disconnect is staggering.
In fact, sellers and buyers cite different reasons for losing deals 50-70 percent of the time.
When you only get your sellers’ side of the story, it’s nearly impossible to pinpoint and address the real skills gaps eroding sales performance. Sellers end up glossing over their own missteps and struggle to understand why deals actually fell through.
You can’t coach sellers effectively if you don’t have an accurate picture of why buyers are choosing competitors. You’ll keep trying to improve skills that don’t influence deal outcomes, and you’ll keep losing winnable deals due to fixable seller mistakes.
What skills, specifically, should you fix?
Buyer feedback from thousands of deals has revealed eight selling skills that represent critical moments in your buyers’ decision-making process. Each one has an outsized influence on deal outcomes.