Problem Solving: 5 Sales Blocks Getting In Your Way

If your company is struggling to make sales, it may be because there are a few things preventing consumers from connecting with your brand or keeping your team from realizing their full potential. Here are five common sales blocks and some suggestions on how to get past them.

Needy salespeople

While a company's sales team should always be driven and passionate, it's important that they not let their eagerness devolve into desperation. If one of your sale's representatives is falling behind the pack, you might want to monitor their interactions with potential customers. There's a good chance that their pitches will have an underlying neediness that consumers will find off-putting and suspicious. If you notice that a member of your team is self-sabotaging themselves in this way, you should immediately take action. Help them build up the self-confidence and provide them with the sales strategies that will allow them to hit their sales goals.

No customer feedback

When you're caught up in the thick of it, it's impossible to gauge if some aspect of your business is actively repelling consumers. The only way to measure how your customers are interacting with your brand is by collecting feedback from people who have purchased your products. They can make you aware of any issues with your marketing, products, distribution, customer service or location, helping you to make improvements. Social media and incentive programs are great ways to solicit customer feedback.

A nine to five mindset

As noted in this Entrepreneur video, a small firm might be experiencing stagnating sales because it has a nine to five mindset. Big corporations can afford to have managers that clock out after an eight-hour work day, but the leader of a small business cannot enjoy the same luxury. Instead, your sales process needs to be hustling around the clock. That means being active on social media, networking at every opportunity, attending industry events and working to generate leads wherever and whenever possible. If you're not part of the 57 percent of small business owners who work six days a week, your business is doomed to failure.

Pricing

If you're putting in the hours and you've surrounded yourself with an A-plus team, your weak sales may be due to your pricing. The rise of the internet as a market force means you're now competing with large corporations. Smaller firms also have to deal with independent contractors and sole proprietors. You'll want to prepare a market intelligence report regarding how all of your competitors, large and small, local and foreign, are pricing and marketing their products and services so that you can get your business back in the game.

A lack of qualified leads

It's easy to acquire large quantities of sales leads through one of the many companies that specialize in gathering consumer information. However, when you outsource your lead generation, you're virtually guaranteeing that leads will be filled with outdated and inaccurate information that will waste your team's time and chip away at their resolve. Sourcing and qualifying your leads in-house will not only save time and boost engagement, you'll also put your team in the position to optimize their sales performance.

This article was written by Mario McKellop of Examiner.com for CBS Small Business Pulse.