Selling Techniques Need Review?

I attended a webinar recently and heard this amazing statistic:  Salespeople spend 25% of their time with non-productive prospects! The speaker didn’t elaborate, but I’ve thought about it and think I know why we spend so much time on prospects who will never turn into customers:

1. Influencers are lulling salespeople into a false sense of expectation: They have too much knowledge and sound powerful.
2. Business owners have a tighter sales cycle or closing expectation: Customers dictate the cycle, and sales staff don’t know how to manage within that arena.
3. The decision process is changing: The Economic Decision Maker has the checkbook, but other stakeholders make the real decision—your sales team probably doesn’t know that!

A sales person who is truly educated in today’s marketplace–and has a thorough appreciation of the influencer’s power—will spend less time with non-productive prospects and enjoy greater success.