It’s Time for a Reality Check

It’s Time for a Reality Check

Welcome back to the 25th issue of Disrupting Conversations! 

I’ll take the risk here—not because I’m trying to create hype, but because it’s the right thing to do.  

Your prospect doesn’t give a crap about your passion, value proposition, or the stories you share regarding your expertise. 

This idea that people buy from people who believe in their product and service or even their own value only appeals to a very small percentage of prospects.  

We need to rethink the way we approach sales and the metrics we use to measure success. I would argue that the gold standards of sales metrics—qualified leads and closing ratios—aren’t a good indicator of sales effectiveness. Let’s talk about why. 

Plus, don't miss our latest podcast episode where Pam and I dive deeper into this flawed thinking, and what we should be considering instead. 

Breaking Sales is my podcast to connect with those who are ready to break free from the chains of old sales methodologies that don’t work.

Title of Episode: The Myth of Sales Effectiveness

🎙️ What if I said they both only consider and target less than 20 percent of the prospect population, and that most sales training methodologies are built to compete within that small percentage? 

What about the other 80 percent? They must be taken into account.

In this episode of Breaking Sales, Pam and I start to debunk the myth of sales effectiveness. We move past the temptation to standardize and label prospects, push past closing ratios, and get to the heart of the matter: how to tear into that other 80 percent.

Reality Check: Nobody Cares About Your Value  

Recently, I came across an article promoting the idea that "prospects buy when they know you believe in your value." When you do a deep dive on human behavior and psychology it becomes clear how this concept, while made popular over the past 50 years, is fundamentally flawed.

It doesn't align with how people actually make decisions. We (human beings) don't make changes based on other people’s preferences or desires. We change when it makes sense to us.

Let me explain further. Over the past 15 years, our research—involving thousands of salespeople—reveals that, at most, only two out of 10 prospects are “qualified leads,” people who are truly ready to make a decision when a salesperson shows up for that first meeting.  

What exactly is a qualified lead? You may have heard the acronym  “BANT:” someone who has the Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeline to make a decision. In short, someone that has already decided to make a change before you even enter the picture!

The prospect with BANT has already done the hard work prior to engaging a sales professional. They’ve worked through their experience biases and change fears to conclude they might be better served by making a change. They are open to being sold in the traditional manner—the sales professional’s pitch or dog and pony show filled with subjective enthusiasm and passion for their product or service.

Let’s add a layer. This means that when you research and read that closing ratios range from 13 percent to 23 percent of “qualified leads,” depending on the industry, these numbers are only reflective of a small number of sales opportunities—the two out of 10 that have already decided that they are going to make a change.  

👉 For high growth companies and elite sales professionals, sales is about engaging and helping the other eight prospects, the ones who struggle to objectively assess if change is warranted. They use a conversation approach that prioritizes tough, meaningful questions to help the prospect challenge their own status quo tendencies. They measure success by the degree to which a prospect engages with the tougher questions, and has the courage to think more objectively. 

Your value means very little (often nothing) to the other eight prospects, because they haven’t fought through their biases, fears, and attachments that prevent them from being honest with themselves about their business. 

Your value becomes your ability to ask meaningful questions that help the prospect think and assess objectively. Your value is your ability not to get caught up in your needs and desires (to make the sale), and focus on what’s best for the prospect. 

It's time we moved beyond the narrow focus on qualified leads and closing ratios. Real sales work involves helping people navigate their own decision-making process, even when they don't initially see the need for change.

I encourage you to reflect on your own sales approach. Are you truly helping your prospects, or are you just competing for the two out of 10 who have already decided to change?  

Thanks for reading!

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