If our prospects are going to invest in our product or service, then we need to help them discover that their existing situation is inadequate. After all, why would anyone invest in something if there’s nothing lacking with their current situation?

Helping prospects discover their inadequacy is sometimes hard to do because they tend to "externalize." They tend to blame their less than ideal performance on something else--and so do we.

So is our struggle to make sales really about a “tough market?” Most of us have established our own system to do what it takes to make sales; to make the calls, schedule the appointments, ask for referrals, etc. These are all behaviors that allow us to make business happen.

So how can we be accountable for our prospect's behavior? Are we really making our markets tougher than they have to be by blaming our poor performance on everything else?

Reasons or excuses?

We might tend to believe that prospects "think it over" more in the current business climate where "people won't make decisions quickly." We doubt it could be the result of anything we do or fail to do. It's just the "conservatism" of a wary and struggling market.

Or we think, Long selling cycles are the result of people who are "laid back" and "easy-going." They're just not in a hurry. "You have to understand," we say, "people in the (Mid-west, South, or West Coast) don't move as quickly as the rest of the country." It's not me; it’s the business culture there.”

Or “Poor margins are just a fact in a highly competitive market" or "There are so many competitors who are willing to give it away to get the business that we have to cut our prices to be competitive." Our excuse is: “The devil, I mean the competition, made me do it." The list goes on.

And we tend to attribute our challenges, problems, and frustrations to someone else’s behavior. It’s the prospects we call on, the competitor, or the collective behavior of the industry or region at fault.

The trap that many salespeople fall into is externalizing and blaming everyone else, especially the economy, for their flagging performance. To be as effective as we can be at selling we have to be objective and avoid making externalized excuses (which are often unrelated to the real problem) and face up to what would have prevented the problem from occurring in the first place.

Face the real reasons

For example, take the excuse: “In this economy, people don’t make decisions quickly, and they need more time to think it over.”

 We should know that if we do a good job at qualifying and verify that the prospect has a compelling need we can fill within their budget, we won’t get so much ambivalence when it’s time for a decision.

And the in the case of the “highly competitive market” excuse, we should know that if we do a good job at helping the prospect discover our relative value, the price will no longer be an issue.

Certainly “market forces,” “stiff competition” and a region’s “business culture” can all be factors in marketing products or services. And we may even want to allow our manager or others that depend on our performance to continue to believe that these factors are the greatest determinants -- letting us dodge responsibility.

But if we want to perform at our best, we need to be honest enough with ourselves to accept that most of these “reasons” are really excuses to rationalize weak performance.

Systems allow control

You already know you need to make the calls, schedule the appointments and ask for the referrals to make business happen. (But by the way, if you are struggling with any of these skills, I may be able to help you.) However, you may not have considered that you also need to hold yourself accountable for the prospect’s behavior to the degree that you can control it.

You can control it by applying a systematic approach to selling, and good questioning, listening and qualifying skills. We give up whatever degree of control that is available to us by externalizing and buying into popular excuses.

Joe Marr is a public speaker, sales and management consultant and trainer, and runs Sandler Training - Ann Arbor at 501 Avis Drive Ann Arbor, MI. For information on how to take a systematic approach to selling call 734-821-4830 or visit his website at http://www.sandlerannarbor.com.