It is widely reported the cost of onboarding a field salesperson is $250,000. Depending on tenure and more, in the end, a company can face expenses more than $840,000. This include hiring fees, overall compensation, severance pay, the cost of mistakes and disruptions, legal fees, and more. FURTHER... money is not the only impact on a sales organization.
"Why Salespeople Fail" is a survey that was directed to managers and owners of technology sales organizations with a field sales force operating in a complex sales environment. Their insights are very revealing, and their answers help to explain "why."
Definition: a complex sales environment is a sales process that involves:
• Mutual Intention between the parties
• Multiple people involved in the decision process (aka; a committee)
• Budgeted and/or financial approval required to purchase
• A protracted time-frame from initial contact to receipt of an order, or not!
ABOUT THIS REPORT
Why Salespeople Fail is a 25-page, in-depth compilation of answers surveyed from 91 sales managers and owners of technology organizations throughout the United States. The survey was directed specifically to technology companies regardless of size to get a broad set of responses. Also included in this report are insights from the author entitled; Howard's Top 7 Reasons Why Salespeople Fail presenting seven key factors that cause salespeople to fail to achieve their revenue goals.
Who is ultimately responsible for a sales person's failure, the company or the individual? As you read the responses we ask you to answer identify who is ultimately responsible for failure, the corporation or the individual salesperson? Hundreds of books have been written about how to hire the right person for a job. It is so simple to say and yet so hard to do.
PRE-HIRE:
From a sales performance point-of-view my message is to urge examining the traits that motivate Account Managers (aka: Farmers) and Business Development Managers (aka: Hunters).
I urge you to use profiles with at least your short list of candidates to better understand the values of candidates you are about to invest heavily in. Prominent in the marketplace today are DISC Profiles that reveal Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness and Taylor Protocols, CVI (Core Values Index) to discover their wired-in Human Operating System.
The primary document is in editable Word format. The secondary document is a PDF version of the same report, in case you encounter any formatting issues with the Word version.
Got a question about the product? Email us at support@flevy.com or ask the author directly by using the "Ask the Author a Question" form. If you cannot view the preview above this document description, go here to view the large preview instead.
Source: Best Practices in Sales Word: Why Salespeople Fail Word (DOCX) Document, Howard Highsmith, CMC Emeritus
Sales Sales Strategy Sales Management Account Management Key Account Management Sales Force Salesforce Bain PowerPoint McKinsey PowerPoint Bain Presentations Bain Frameworks Boston Consulting Group PowerPoint Consulting Frameworks PwC PowerPoint Mercer PowerPoint Bain Templates Accenture Templates McKinsey Templates Boston Consulting Group Templates Accenture PowerPoint Consulting Methodologies Booz Documents PwC Templates Capgemini PowerPoint Oliver Wyman Presentations Boston Consulting Group Frameworks E&Y PowerPoint IBM Presentations Oliver Wyman Templates Strategy Consulting Frameworks Bain Documents IBM Documents Capgemini Documents Roland Berger PowerPoint A.T. Kearney PowerPoint BCG Documents Accenture Frameworks BCG Frameworks BCG PowerPoint Oliver Wyman PowerPoint Consulting Documents BCG Presentations A.T. Kearney Documents Management Consulting Frameworks BCG Templates E&Y Templates Roland Berger Presentations Capgemini Templates Boston Consulting Group Documents LEK Frameworks Booz Allen Presentations E&Y Frameworks McKinsey Presentations Booz Allen Frameworks A.T. Kearney Frameworks IBM Templates Booz Allen PowerPoint Accenture Documents Accenture Presentations A.T. Kearney Templates McKinsey Frameworks Boston Consulting Group Presentations McKinsey Documents LEK PowerPoint Mercer Templates Roland Berger Frameworks Capgemini Frameworks Booz Presentations Roland Berger Templates PwC Frameworks Booz Allen Templates Booz Templates Strategy& Presentations Oliver Wyman Documents Mercer Presentations LEK Documents PwC Presentations LEK Templates IBM PowerPoint Capgemini Presentations E&Y Documents Oliver Wyman Frameworks Booz Allen Documents PwC Documents IBM Frameworks Mercer Frameworks Mercer Documents LEK Presentations Booz PowerPoint Strategy Documents Booz Frameworks A.T. Kearney Presentations Roland Berger Documents Business Frameworks E&Y Presentations Strategy& PowerPoint Deloitte PowerPoint Consulting Process A.T. Kearney Frameworks A.T. Kearney PowerPoint A.T. Kearney Templates A.T. Kearney Documents A.T. Kearney Presentations Key Performance Indicators KPI Critical Success Factors Key Success Factors Human Resources HR Strategy Hiring Talent Management Talent Strategy Human Resources Management Interviewing Recruitment Meeting Facilitation Meeting Management Meeting Facilitation/Management Growth Strategy Breakout Strategy Corporate Strategy Breakthrough Strategy B2B Sales Compensation Marketing Plan Development Marketing Marketing Strategy
![]() |
Download our FREE Strategy & Transformation Framework Templates
Download our free compilation of 50+ Strategy & Transformation slides and templates. Frameworks include McKinsey 7-S, Balanced Scorecard, Disruptive Innovation, BCG Curve, and many more. |