『Salespeople To Avoid』のカバーアート

Salespeople To Avoid

Salespeople To Avoid

無料で聴く

ポッドキャストの詳細を見る

【Amazonプライム会員限定】今ならプレミアムプランが4か月 月額99円。

10月19日まで。※適用条件あり
A long career in sales does not automatically make someone a professional salesperson. In Japan, I have met experienced representatives who launch into a polished product pitch without asking a single question about the buyer. That is not consultative selling. That is brochure delivery with a business card. How can you recognise an unprofessional salesperson in Japan? A salesperson who starts explaining a product before understanding your needs is displaying a serious gap in professional selling skills. The first test is simple: do they ask what you are trying to achieve, what constraints you face and why you are considering a purchase? Or do they reach for the brochure? In business-to-business sales and financial services alike, a presentation cannot replace discovery. I once met two experienced representatives from a major multinational insurance company in Japan. They had come to complete cancer insurance paperwork, but then moved straight into an annuity cross-sell. Neither asked about my investment objectives. Years of employment do not guarantee years of learning. A salesperson can repeat the same weak routine for two decades and still call it experience. Do now: Listen for thoughtful discovery questions before allowing a product presentation to begin. Why must salespeople ask questions before presenting products? Questions uncover the buyer's goals, risks and decision criteria, allowing a salesperson to recommend something relevant rather than simply available. The insurance representatives walked me through dollar-cost averaging, charts and a quiz about hypothetical investment returns. I answered correctly and received congratulations. Lovely. But where were the questions about retirement timing, family circumstances, existing investments and financial priorities? Nowhere. With an annuity, these considerations are central to suitability. In corporate sales, the equivalent questions concern business objectives, decision-makers, budgets and implementation risk. Japan's emphasis on relationships does not excuse weak diagnosis. In fact, careful questioning can demonstrate respect for the customer's circumstances. If the buyer has to do all the analytical work, the salesperson is not adding much value. Do now: Require discovery of objectives, constraints and decision criteria before recommending a solution. What should financial product salespeople know about fees and fund structures? Salespeople must understand the costs, underlying investments and limitations of the financial products they present. When I finally read the annuity brochure myself, I discovered a fund-of-funds structure and details of fees, including ongoing charges. I asked the two representatives about those costs. It became obvious they were unfamiliar with that section of their own brochure. That is astonishing when fees directly affect what a customer ultimately receives. The same principle applies beyond financial services: software subscriptions, training programmes and industrial equipment all carry costs and conditions buyers need to understand. Product knowledge means more than memorising the headline benefits. It includes being able to explain what the customer pays, what they receive and what might change over time. Do now: Test whether representatives can explain every material fee, condition and product limitation. Does twenty years of sales experience guarantee competence? No. Twenty years in a sales role may represent deep expertise, or merely one year of inadequate habits repeated twenty times. The representatives I met were seasoned, not newcomers. Their confidence and tenure could easily have reassured a buyer who did not ask detailed questions. Yet they skipped fundamental discovery and could not explain material charges. This distinction matters for sales directors across Japan, whether they manage multinational teams or domestic small and medium-sized enterprises. Seniority, loyalty and familiarity with the company are not substitutes for demonstrated ability. Nor should managers assume a long-serving salesperson has mastered consultative selling, negotiation or customer qualification. Skills must be observed, not inferred from age or length of service. Do now: Evaluate actual selling behaviour rather than using tenure as a proxy for capability. How can sales managers identify weaknesses in their teams? Short, realistic sales role-plays quickly reveal whether representatives ask useful questions and genuinely understand what they sell. Give a salesperson a realistic buyer scenario, then watch what happens. Do they begin with a product explanation or investigate the situation? Can they explain the commercial details without hiding behind marketing material? Can they handle an unexpected question about costs or suitability? A role-play need not become a theatrical production. Ten minutes of observation can expose habits that annual sales figures may conceal. Managers should also review discovery notes, coach ...
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
まだレビューはありません