Yogi Berra once said, “Slump? I ain’t in no slump… I just ain’t hitting.” Sales slumps are a fact of sales management life. I personally think most sales slumps occur because salespeople get complacent and out of the good behaviors that lead to closed deals. As a sales manager, it is important to stay engaged with your salespeople and hold them accountable for the activities that keep the pipeline fresh, not stagnant.
If a slump does befall one of your salespeople, ManageSmarter.com offers a worthwhile article on this topic – How to Get Out of a Selling Rut and Regain Your Selling Spark. The second point in the article is excellent (emphasis mine):
Sales Mindset 2: The Heart Is the Wellspring of Sales Confidence.
Salespeople who are in a rut don’t need a lobotomy€”they need a heart transplant! Why do I say this? Because the very issues that keep buyers from trusting us as salespeople are not logic-based, they are emotion-based. Whether you realize it or not, customers make purchasing decisions based first on their emotions, and then on other factors, such as price and quality.Your ability to interact with your buyer in a confident manner answers the buyer’s basic, emotion-based doubts and questions about you: Can I trust you? Do you care about me and my business? Do you know what you’re doing?
The dilemma most salespeople share is giving too much power to the buyer. Two common reasons sellers allow this to happen are: 1. They haven’t earned the right to do business, and 2. They lack confidence. Both of these are closely linked to how you feel as a seller, and how the customer feels about you.
How true. Successful selling requires the proper balance of confidence and humility. Is there anything more annoying than a cocky, smug salesperson? Anyway, we have seen once successful salespeople spin themselves down into a rut due to lost confidence. As a manager, it is imperative that you know your salesperson’s style and motivation to properly guide them out of their slump.