Team selling is still a hot topic in the world of B2B Sales. One of the most important reasons is higher performance due to larger account buyers feeling more confident in the selling company.
The bigger the company you are selling, the more important it becomes to be seen as the “safe choice” or “low risk” provider. These big companies have a track record of firing people who make mistakes – either immediately for impact or during the next round of cost cutting.
Therefore, team selling allows your company to be seen as stable and having multiple “faces” in contact with them. Throw in an extra variable such as a complexity relative to what you are selling, and team selling becomes a necessity.
While many organizations are very successful with Team Selling, there are a larger number failing at the Team Selling effort. Why do Teams fail in the world of selling? Here are the five common reasons for Team Selling Failure…
The Five Common Reasons for Team Selling Failure
- Lack of Cooperation
Cooperation and collaboration are key elements for a successful team. The core of cooperation and collaboration to work properly is healthy respect for each individual on the team. If respect and trust is missing, performance is limited. - Loss of Motivation
While the loss of motivation is usually a symptom of a deeper issue, it does drive frustration within the team. When this frustration is shared with the customer, the feeling of safety and security for the buyer drops – as does the probability of success. Team effectiveness is driven by the level of communication within the team – open and honest as well as robust dialogue without feeling being hurt is important. - Lack of Leadership
Even with teams leadership must be present. There are two important aspects regarding team leadership. First, either a team member or an outside influence provides the leadership for the team. Second, a better and more effective function is the use of Shared Leadership whereby all the team members become accountable for their area of expertise – and the other team members trust the individual to preform at a high standard. - Lack of Management Support
No team can function effectively for the long term without Management Support. This includes the ability to assign authority to the team members, create or understand the common goal for the team and make decisions for the good of the team. No politics or personal “ego” agendas can sustain a team’s drive and motivation for success. - Too Many Agendas and Ego’s
While I have discussed the role of agendas and egos relative to leaders and management, it is equally – if not more – important the team members themselves are focused upon A Common Goal. One of the biggest reasons for Sell Team failure is too much internal competition for the glory. An out of control Ego is a sign of poor Self-Esteem. If the entire team is demonstrating this symptom, failure is guaranteed. If only one team member is responsible for distractions from the common goal – then leadership must step up to correct this issue for the good of the whole. If the entire team has an issue with agendas, then it is usually due to a lack of real common goal. A Goal debated and discussed in an open and safe environment so agendas can be shared with the best case of a synergistic solution of a common goal. Synergy, when used with a Sell Team, is an exciting to watch group of focused individuals using win-win techniques for each other, their organization and their customer.
Take this list of failure triggers and use them to review the quality of your Sell Team. IF any of the five are present you will have a potential failure sharing you in the face without corrective action.
Remember the Law of Cause and Effect as you review these five aspects of Sell Team performance. Look at the effect you are getting from the team and then go deeper. Find the underlining Cause and correct it first if you want the Effects of the team to change.
Contact me if you need an outside or independent review of your Sell Team. Especially the effectiveness of their communication and the clarity of the Common Goal.
Voss Graham
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