training and consulting tells me that the 80/20 rule comes close. Salespeople do the right thing about 80 percent of the time. But approximately 20 percent of the time, they dont. Whats more, most salespeople dont even know what exactly theyre doing wrong.

For instance, if a salesperson believes he gets too many objections, he probably will want to study objection-handling techniques. But one research finding has revealed that objections are often symptoms of a bigger problem, such as ineffective probing. In this case, the salesperson believes the problem is one thing (objections), when it is really another (probing).

As another example, many salespeople believe that open-ended questions are more effective than closed-ended questions. These salespeople dont know that it isnt the category of questions that matters; the type of question within each category is more important.

selection criteria for sales traps

No one-including academics, consultants, and senior managers- is immune from sales traps. There may well be more than just 24 of them. The ones Ive identified here meet the following two stringent criteria:

1. The sales trap will have a large negative impact on business results if it is not immediately recognized and avoided. (Negative results include financial loss, lack of customer loyalty and retention, and strategic market competitiveness issues.)

2. There is reliable published or field research with which to refute the mistaken beliefs, fallacies, or partial truths inherent in the sales trap.

If there wasnt sound evidence to prove that a belief was a sales trap, I didnt include it.

benefits of avoiding the 24 sales traps. If you avoid the 24 sales traps and execute the action points, youre going to see a dramatic increase in your personal sales effectiveness and sales results (remember the 80/20 ratio). If your organization avoids these traps consistently across the board, it will be on its way to being a successful sales team. Avoiding the 24 sales traps will enable you to:

A Increase your sales call effectiveness

A Improve your personal selling skills

A Have a greater impact on your buyers business

A Improve your customer retention and customer satisfaction

A Be more effective in sales management

A Produce higher sales revenues and profits for your company and for your clients

how to use this book

This book identifies six basic principles followed by successful sales organizations. These principles are based on ten years of observation of top companies, teams, and individual sales forces. Avoiding the sales traps associated with each principle will help you achieve success in that area. For each sales trap, youll find explanatory text, action points, and, at the end of each sales trap, the sales truth, the counterintuitive sales reality. The sales truths summarize published and field research, as well as best practices. The action points I give for each sales trap are practical real-world guidelines based on the best practices of The Dartmouth Group, the Institute for Global Sales Studies at Indiana University, and hundreds of top-notch companies.

Endnotes with full citations are given at end of the book. See the notes section for more information on the research and/or researcher who disproves each mistaken belief, fallacy, or half-truth.

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It includes primary sources, secondary sources, and other research material (including field studies and face-to-face interviews). The names in the case studies and examples have been changed to protect confidentiality.

Ive designed this book to be engaging and fun (well, as engaging and fun as any sales book can be). Skim the table of contents, and identify the sales traps that make you go Hmmm or that you disagree with. Turn to the sales truth at the end of each. Do you agree with it? Did you get it? If you didnt get it, or you dont believe it, youll want to read the explanation. If you know the answer, but you want to see how I came up with it, you may want to read the explanation to see why your answer is correct.

the six principles of leading sales organizations

In order to place the sales traps in this book in their real-world context, Ive organized them around the six key principles that leading sales organizations, teams, and top performers follow. These are the six principles that differentiate average-performing groups and salespeople from those that are outstanding. Companies such as Xerox, IBM, Dell Computer, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, General Electric, Guidant, Motorola, Eli Lilly, INB Bank of Indiana (now Bank One), Duracell, Hewlett-Packard, Thomson RCA, Northwestern Mutual, UPS, and AT&T espouse these six principles:

1. Focus outside.

2. Get the most out of the best people.

3. Train effectively.

4. Create value.

5. Offer feedback and opportunities for learning.

6. Use the Internet and databases effectively.