Unless we take responsibility for negative, as well as positive results, we learn nothing and earn even less
In the human condition, vanity and humility must live in balance. If we're too humble, others get credit for our hard work and ingenuity. If we're too proud, we believe our own propaganda and keep repeating the same mistakes. The common denominator between the two is confidence. If you have confidence, you present yourself well and, just as importantly, you are big enough to admit your mistakes and learn from them in the process.
The problem is there are too many crutches out there to prop up our vanity and lure us into a false sense of being right! I came across one such work of fiction recently, which illustrated how easily we can be distracted by information that allows us to blame factors outside of ourselves for our own failings.
It was survey conducted on behalf of a well-known provider of sales research data. They have, they believe, captured the reasons why sales people lose deals. The survey tells us that, according to the “honest impressions” of thousands of sales executives, the reasons why they lose deals (in descending order) are;
- Competitors Price and Terms
- Competitors Existing Relationship
- Competitors Brand Equity and Reputation
- Competitors Product Superiority
- Competitors Market Messaging
- Competitors Sales Process Execution
- Competitors Level of Service and Support
- Competitors Account Coverage
- Competitors Availability of Product/Solution
- Competitors ROI Business Case
- Competitors References
Yes, taken at face value, I suppose these are well thought out, credible reasons why people lose deals. But why is the competitor blamed 11 times yet the sales professional carries no responsibility themselves - whatsoever? Imagine for a moment the following scenario:
A volunteer called Peter is being hypnotized. The Hypnotist draws Peter into a trance and embeds the following hypnotic suggestion in his sub-conscious.
As soon as it’s 2.30, Peter will go to the wardrobe, fetch his Wellington boots and raincoat and put them on. He will then get his umbrella and walk two miles to the supermarket and buy six bottles of whiskey. Finally Peter is instructed to return home. As soon as he enters his home Peter is told he will “snap out of it” and forget everything.
At 2.30pm Peter drops what he’s doing, heads for the wardrobe, gets his coat, dons his Wellies and grabs his umbrella. He then heads out the door to the supermarket where he subsequently purchases six bottles of whiskey.
However, there are a few weird things about this particular day and task:
1) It’s a beautiful, warm day. The sun is high in the sky and there’s not a cloud to be seen
2) There is an off license less than 500 metres from Peter’s house that sells Whiskey for the same price as the supermarket Peter is heading to. He has to pass it on the way to the supermarket.
3) Peter doesn’t drink alcohol.
So, what's going to happen? When we are asked to justify our actions, vanity always steps in and helps us create a plausible excuse that will probably only make sense in our own heads. So what will Peter do when he finds himself sweating inside a raincoat and boots on a sunny day, clutching an umbrella and six bottles of a beverage he doesn't drink, and perusing a receipt from a shop further away than he needed to go?
I'll tell you what. The same thing that happens when we find we have lost a deal. No matter how bizarre the scenario, Peter's vanity will try to justify his clothing, his journey and his purchase. Of course it will only make sense to him. So, when asked why we lost a surefire, copperbottomed, guaranteed deal we will blame climate change, we'll blame the dog, we'll blame the fact we were bottle-fed - but one thing is for sure, the reasons we give ourselves and others for why we lose a deal very rarely relate to the real reasons.
Meanwhile, Peter arrives home, opens the door and ‘snaps’ out of his hypnotic trance. Finding himself in such a bizarre situation he is understandably confused. Imagine the conversation that ensures:
Hypnotist: “Hi Peter, where have you been?
Peter: “Just to the supermarket”
Hypnotist: “Oh, What did you buy?"
Peter: “Eh….um…., just some whiskey”
Hypnotist: “But, Peter, you don’t drink?”
Peter: “No, but I’m planning on having some friends around for dinner soon and most of them do”
Hypnotist: “It’s a beautiful day outside, how come you’re wearing a raincoat and wellingtons?”
Peter: “Well, you never know with the weather at the moment, it so changeable and I don’t want to get caught out.”
Hypnotist: “But the sky is cloudless?”
Peter: Well, better safe than sorry, right!”
Hypnotist: “I’m curious Peter, where did you buy the whiskey?”
Peter: “In the Tesco supoermarket”
Hypnotist: “How come you went so far for it, there’s an off license around the corner!”
Peter: “Well, eh…. em…. It’s such a nice day, I thought it would be nice to go for a walk instead”
We are all motivated to justify our actions, beliefs and feelings. It's human nature. Nobody wants to be exposed, to feel stupid, inadequate or the butt of a joke. Regardless of the scenario, we will do our darnedest to persuade and convince ourselves, and others, that it was a logical, rational thing to do. Watch any episode of Mr. Bean, watch any Charlie Chaplin or Peter Sellers The Pink Panther film and you will see them doing stupid things and attempting to look normal afterwards. That's how it looks to others but inside our heads it makes sense.
We know Peter performed these nonsensical tasks because he was hypnotized. He didn’t know he'd been hypnotized so he was desperately trying to make himself look more dignified. But wouldn't he have been much better off in the long run to confront his own bewilderment and attempt to discover what really happened? That way he might have learned something. Instead he ended up a laughingstock.
You might think it's a long way from sales but please allow me to refer you back to the list above where sales professionals put 100% of the blame for their failures on competitor successes. It's no more plausible than Peter's wardrobe-and-weather rationale.
Let's have another look at the survey and check out the reasons why we lose deals, again. This time, check what all these reasons have in common and ask yourself "Where is the personal accountability?" and
where is the "We screwed up" claim?
1) Competitor's Price and Terms.
Why not: "Our price and terms didn't stack up!"
2) Competitor's Existing Relationship
Why not: "I need to get closer to prospects so I can earn their trust"
3) Competitor's Brand Equity and Reputation.
Why not: "I know I'm in sales but maybe we can work more closely with marketing and share our experience and expertise."
4) Competitor's Product Superiority.
Why not: "I may have undersold our product's unique features."
5) Competitor's Market Messaging.
Why not: "I had the prospect's ear. How did I fail to clarify the conflicting messages around our business."
6) Competitor's Sales Process Execution.
Why not: "I need to improve my sales process and how I implement it."
7) Competitor's Level of Service and Support.
Why not: "We need to prove our ability to provide follow on service and credible CRM."
8) Competitor's Account Coverage.
Why not: "If we want a broader portfolio of business, we need to cover more ground and have more of a presence."
9) Competitor's Availability of Product/Solution.
Why not: "Why couldn't I convince the prospect that our JIT systems are faultless and actually save him money!"
10) Competitor's ROI Business Case.
Why not: "I need to build our ROI case more strongly. We don't push our 'future-proof' philosophy hard enough."
11) Competitor's References.
Why not: "Our list of satisfied customers is unbeatable. So how come we got beat? I need to work on endorsements and case histories."
In other words, the honest answer to the survey would be to rewrite the list so that, instead of beginning with competitors it began with "We". “We lost because……."
- Our sales strategy was wrong.
- We didn’t build a strong enough relationship.
- We didn’t listen to what the prospect was telling us.
- We failed to build sufficient value.
- Our team selling effort really let us down.
- We made foolish assumptions.
- We failed to qualify hard enough.
- We over engineered the solution for the budget available.
- We didn’t get the support of the key decision makers.
- We called too low in the organisation.
These are (some of) the reasons why we lose deals. Occasionally we lose a sale because someone else's product, service or pricing is better. As often as not however, we simply get outsold - our vanity just won't let us admit it. Or maybe it's our 'Self-serving bias', which is our tendency to take credit for successful outcomes while denying responsibility for unsuccessful ones.
These surveys would be funny if people didn't take them seriously and use them as a substitute for proper evidence and research. Or, if I may be so cruel, if people didn't use them as crutches to explain away their own inadequacies.
Surveying a large group of salespeople expecting them to give you clear unbiased opinions as to why they lose deals is a futile exercise.
Surveying a large group of customers expecting them to give you clear unbiased opinions as to why they did or did not choose you is an equally futile exercise. You may as well survey Turkeys on the merits of Christmas.
Remember what Henry Ford once said: “If I asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said ‘faster horses’”
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