1. Improper Training or Lack of Training. Mastery of any position and any field is dependent upon how well you were trained to do it. Sales jobs in particular require a certain level of skill and finesse, especially when it comes to interacting with difficult clients or easing a worried client’s concerns, for example. If a salesperson has not been properly shown how to deal with such situations, or others like them, then it is very unlikely that the salesperson will be able to overcome them and close the deal.
2. Inadequate Supervision. Most individuals in the sales profession thrive when there is another member of the sales team who can tell them what they are doing right and what they can improve upon. If a salesperson has a job in which such feedback it unavailable, it can be difficult to determine what, exactly, is effective and what should be changed when there’s a problem.
3. Lack of Motivation. Sales jobs are often tied to a simple truth: after skill, success levels are dependent upon how much the person in that sales position wants to make the sale. Remember, if you have no interest, or very little desire to close a deal, your client will mirror your attitude and have little motivation to close the deal as well.
4. Little or No Assessment. You may think that you’re a great salesperson, but how do you stack up against your peers? Having a benchmark will show you not only how well you are currently doing but how much more business you need to do in order to be on par with, or surpass, others. For example, you may think that closing 20 deals every month is a great accomplishment. But once you measure yourself against others you may realize that, in fact, you are far behind, with many of your colleagues closing 100 deals every month.
5. Lack of Incentives. Salespeople know that success in their jobs is tied to what they get out of them. After all, who would choose to work with a client for months knowing that their ultimate decision would be not to buy? In order to be successful in any sales job then, sales professionals need incentives. Whether these are established by the company for which you work, or are self-imposed, you need to have a reason to work hard, even if that reason is as simple as splurging on a nice evening out after closing five deals in one week.