TheTop 10 Reasons Why Salespeople Get Outsold

In my business, it has been an interesting and very busy two quarters. I've worked with sales managers, marketing executives, professional services practice managers, business development executives, divisional presidents, two dozen sales teams, nine VPs of Sales and directly with 29 CEOs in North America and in Europe. I've seen a lot of deals won and more than a few lost.

When I first meet my clients, I find that some really do not know why they have won or lost business, although often they think they do. Their answers to just a few of my questions provides me with a pretty good idea of where to dig in more deeply. (Note: For me to perform a comprehensive diagnosis and provide appropriate recommendations for improvement, a formal win/loss analysis is required.)

In order to help you diagnose why you may have lost one or more deals, I am sharing with you in Letterman-style reverse order, the top ten reasons that salespeople (generally those employed by my clients' competitors) got outsold during the first part of 2003: