Top 10 Reasons Most Sales Fail
by Mastermind Faculty, Jackie Martin, Business/Executive Coach

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1.    Lack of Execution

According to Kaplan and Norton, over 90% of all businesses fail in the sales area due to lack of execution.  Fundamentally, without a sales plan and a way to measure progress we have no concrete way of knowing whether we're on target - in other words, how well we are succeeding, or not.

2.    "The Bottom Drawer" syndrome

Most sales plans are put in the bottom drawer and forgotten about.  Once a month ask yourself – Is this still important for me to pursue? Am I still on course?  Is there anything that I can do to improve my sales results?  Goals need to be visible and in a place where they can easily be reviewed.  It's like the old adage "Out of sight, out of mind". 

3.    Ignoring Change

Sales goals with a due date greater than 90 days need to be revisited at least every month to make sure they're still pertinent.  For example, global market conditions (e.g. outsourcing) may cause the sales goal to change completely in some cases. Other sales goals could be impacted for different reasons and they may need some sort of modification. 

4.    Overcoming Obstacles

It's important to recognize the distinction between abandoning an obsolete plan and giving up. What is motivating you to stop?  Have you examined your feelings?

What's really getting in your way? Is there any procrastination?

5.    Riding a Dead Horse

It's important to ask yourself, are these sales strategies still valid?  Do they still line up with the bigger picture?  Sales strategies are only a means to an end and there are many ways to get to that end.  Make sure you know what's motivating you to continue to work on any particular goal.

6.    Undefined or Vague Sales Strategies

At a minimum, each strategy must answer the question "What" by "When".  A poorly defined sales strategy would be something like "I want more clients".  There is no way to measure it, it's not actionable and there's no indication as to when it needs to be completed.

7.    Learning from Mistakes

There's extremely valuable information in knowing what went wrong.  Rather than trying harder or just acknowledging that something isn't working, it's important to take the time to get feedback from others and to reflect on both what was working and what went wrong.  With this information you can then revise or set new very specific sales goals that have a higher probability of success. 

8.    Ideas are not Sales Strategies

If a sales strategy is not articulated well it may end up being just a great idea.  Suppose you're planning a new initiative – maybe a new product or service – for the longer term and you know that all you need to do for now is devote a few hours a week toward it.  Lately, however, other business activities are taking considerable and "un-planned for" time.  Keeping up with new technology, virus and spam protection, privacy acts and spamming regulations to name just a few, have been taking up all your spare time.  Because the longer term initiative wasn't identified as a specific sales strategy, it has fallen by the wayside. 

9.    Lack of Goal Alignment

How do your sales goals line up with your clients real (not perceived) needs along with other business, social, community, family and self commitments?

Two or more sales goals that contradict each other are self-defeating.  An example of conflicting sales goals would be that your work requires that you invest considerable face time and your home and/or social life also require considerable face time. To avoid this trap it's important to consider each sales goal in light of all the other goals including personal and social commitments.

10. Unrealistic Expectations  

If others are involved in realizing your sales goals, do you know if they share or understand the vision and purpose for the goals? Do they know what's important and how the sales goal fits into the overall strategy?  When considering others' expectations don't forget to include all of your own!