Sell As Things Are...Not As You Wish They Were...
I've had a rash of reps this week wanting to sell to an industry that doesn't exist. I've had reps (or reports of reps) that want to..
1. Sell only over the phone because it's too hard to get in front of referral sources.
2. No longer visit key referral sources regularly because "they already know us" and will refer whenever they're ready.
3. Only use social media to "stalk" referral sources that wouldn't see the rep....in order to get close enough to spring their sales trap on them.
So...what's the problem?
Nothing, as long as these methods work. As you probably know, they don't. These 3 reps want to sell to an industry as they want it to be...completely disregarding the way our industry actually is. I would be thrilled if all it took to succeed in home care selling was to drop off some brochures, friend a couple of people on Facebook, make a few phone calls, and watch the referrals pour in. If anyone is succeeding with that methodology, I applaud you and would love to hear about it. The vast majority of reps however, are going to need to do more...a lot more.
It begs the question of WHY do reps continue to disregard what really works in selling home care? There are only 2 reasons...
Fear and Comfort.
Fear of doing something they are not used to, with the chance it won't work. The Comfort of doing things they are used to even though it's proven not to work. As crazy as this equation sounds, that is the behavioral pattern of most failing sales reps.
The saddest part of all 3 of these stories is that the reps themselves absolutely have the talent to succeed. I know that for a fact. They are wasting their talent on trivial "marketing" activities when they could be owning their territory via professional selling.
So...what do you do if you have reps like the 3 above?
Be firm, be resolute, be strict. Help them devise a plan and make sure they stick to it. In 2 weeks they'll have a small breakthrough. In a month, they'll have a victory. In 2 months they'll have a habit. In 6 months they'll be the number one rep in their territory.
Or...just let them do whatever is comfortable....and you can start looking for their replacement on Monday morning.
Your choice. You may already have the person who can do exactly what you hired them for...they just need you to lead the way.
Lead the way....
Good selling!
Michael Giudicissi
CEO
Home Care Sales by Power Shot Training, Inc.
michaelg@powershottraining.com
