“Why aren’t they selling more?” a bank CEO recently asked me. “The bank is open so many hours a day and my people should be able to sell more of our services to our customers”, he argued, obviously frustrated. This question, in one form or another, is being asked more and more by clients. They all represent the same pressure executives are currently facing − to drive growth in their business. Stockholders are tired of cost reduction programs. This shifts the pressure onto executives to demonstrate their ability to grow the business. Growth has traditionally come from customers buying more. To date, companies have not yet found a means of increasing revenue without customer involvement. This forces them to continue to deal with clients, (reluctantly, in most cases, I argue). After numerous unsuccessful marketing ploys, executives now shift blame to their employees for not enthusiastically selling more of their products or services to customers.
The answer to the question “why do employees not sell more products and services?” goes far beyond selling skills. Companies which hastily facilitate a sales skills seminar as the solution to this problem miss the real issue. Those companies which turn to fireworks and pep rallies in the name of motivation miss the real issue as well. In either case, the companies will not address the growing divide and serious crisis evolving in corporations today. The real issue is that employees have lost faith in the products and services they are being asked to represent and sell.
Over the past 5 years there has been an erosion of the employee / company relationship. As companies focused on efficiency programs, they did so at the expense of employees. The employees, in turn, resented the price they were required to pay and lowered their commitment level in the company. This lower commitment is barely the tip of the iceberg. Employees also witnessed the devaluation of the products and services of the companies they work for. They noted how bureaucratic accountants stripped the products of value and turned them into vanilla commodities not worth the asking price. Additionally, companies sharply reduced their human resources and therefore their ability to deliver products and services to customers in a satisfactory manner. Throughout this process, employees lost their faith in the products and services they were being asked to represent. They simply can no longer look their customers in the eye and push those products and services. They know better than to try and deceive their customers. Deception is exactly what they feel they are practicing these days.
“I am working on a deal worth half a million dollars” an employee in a technology company told me recently. “I know the product will not work at the client’s site, but I am still pushing the order through. I never disclosed the truth to the client. I am torn between my personal values and corporate demands. My only consolation is that I am leaving my employer so I will not have to face the customer during the expected failure” he added. The option of leaving is not available to the majority of employees. What do they do? They simply impose a restriction on themselves and sell only what they absolutely believe in or have to. They also provide heavy discounting as a form of compensation for the preconceived deception they impose on their customers.
During the course of our research, we concluded that there are 10 reasons why employees are reluctant to sell more:
Fear of offending or losing the customer
Perception that customers will ask for what they really need
Perception that sales is for aggressive people
Misunderstanding how to conduct a sale
Perception that selling forces customers to buy something against their will
Lack of belief in their product’s value
Lack of belief that the product will perform
Lack of belief that the company is committed to customers
Lack of a sense of competition and urgency
Lack of a clear understanding of the company's strategy
Employees conduct themselves in a “fear of leadership” mentality. They fear that the competition is better. They fear that the price is too high. They are afraid to offend the customer or to push too far. Employees’ fear of leadership is directly related to their lack of belief in the product’s capabilities and the company’s lack of commitment to deliver the promised service at the highest level. When employees act out of fear, it shows. It shows in the top and bottom line of every company.
To address this issue, companies first must recognize its severity. Employees cannot merely be ordered to sell more. They need to be persuaded. Their confidence needs to be rebuilt. Employees feel that due to the personal credibility they lend to the selling process, they need to be convinced that they are doing the right thing. Our recently developed Fear vs. Freedom Leadership Analysis Tool enables us to identify the employees’ biggest fears and help companies address the root cause of the reluctant selling performance they face. The issue may be different in each company − from product issues, to strong competition, to doubts regarding pricing. Each issue needs to be clearly identified and addressed immediately to rebuild the sales and service forces’ confidence in the products they represent.
Cost reduction programs resulted in a reduction in employee confidence. Selling is at the heart of every company’s performance. Without it, there are no quarterly results and the impact is felt on the bottom line. Employees are the key to selling. They cannot be forced, ignored or ordered around. Many companies have tried and failed to do this. Employees simply need to be sold to so they in turn can sell to customers. After all, if you cannot sell it to your own people, how do you expect to sell it to others?
Lior Arussy is the President of Strativity Group and the author of several books. His latest book is Passionate & Profitable: Why Customers Strategies Fail and 10 Steps to Do Them Right! (John Wiley & Sons, 2005).