Common Sales Excuses We Should All Stop Making (and how to reframe them)
Every LO knows that finding success in sales isn’t always the easiest task, and bad habits can create roadblocks along the way. One of the worst habits, in my opinion, is making excuses to relinquish responsibility or procrastinate. Instead of coming up with reasons why the system is flawed, take your challenges as lessons to help you progress. By transforming excuses into new goals and plans of action to help move you forward, you’ll be more accountable for yourself — and your success. Here are a few common sales excuses and some ideas for reframing them:
Sales Expectations are Too High
Sometimes loan officers might complain that the sales targets their managers have given them are too high, unrealistic, or unattainable. While it’s understandable to vent when you’re overwhelmed by expectations set out for you, there are some factors that can help you test the validity of the complaint. Do any other members of your team feel the same way? Talk to your manager for some feedback. If it’s valid and many others are struggling, it may be time for your manager to adjust their expectations. If not, it may be that you need more tools to succeed. Rather than blaming your frustrations on static sales targets, look to things that can be improved or adjusted (like your training and skills), and seek out the support you need.
None of My Prospects are Valuable
There will always be times when LOs struggle to find qualified prospects and good leads. They may feel like the sales pipeline is weak and point to that as the cause of their low performance. Again, if you go with an excuse that’s rooted in external circumstances, you don’t leave much room for change. Instead, begin advocating for better tools or more training to boost your skill sets. Anything from your CRM software to your marketing training could be the root cause, and if you look everywhere for an answer, you give yourself room to grow.
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It’s the Economy/Market
While of course the economy will affect the market, it’s imperative you adjust to the behaviors of your prospects. Check in on your competitors and see how they’re doing. If they’re also struggling, then you know it’s a challenging time and you can start adjusting to your consumers’ behaviors. If your competitors are still doing well, take ownership over your own practices and look for areas that need to be improved.
Prospects Have Gone Cold
Maybe the issue is that your prospects aren’t responding to your outreach attempts. Keeping your prospects engaged and interested can feel like a major challenge, but don’t let that be an excuse. You may need to try new methods to keep them engaged. Consider using more than one point of contact to reach them. Try to accommodate your prospects and clients and make it as easy as possible for them to engage. You may also just need to spend more time building rapport. More on what to do when your prospects go cold, here.
Excuses can be a major roadblock to long-term success; and while there will be times that each of these common excuses will be valid, spend some time exploring to see if the situation is fixable by making some changes.
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