2019 Top Sales Challenges... Solved!

What are the Top Sales Challenge for 2019? Here's my list based on studying thousands of top salespeople, B2B sales cycles, and extensive research on how B2B buyers select vendors. You'll find strategies to solve these 72 challenges in my new book Sales Strategy Playbook: The Ultimate Reference Guide to Solve Your Toughest Sales Challenges.

 

1. How do buyers evaluate vendors and make decisions?  
2. How do I become a top salesperson?   
3. How do I become a trusted advisor? 
4. How do I become a better negotiator?   
5. How do I become more confident in my forecast?  
6. How do I become more persuasive?  
7. How do I bounce back after a tough loss? 
8. How do I call higher in an account?  
9. How do I conduct client quarterly or annual business reviews? 
10. How do I conduct meaningful discovery when meeting with prospects?  
11. How do I control the sales cycle? -  
12. How do I create a sales strategy?   
13. How do I cross-sell products?  
14. How do I describe my sales strategy to my sales manager?   
15. How do I determine if I am working for the right company? 
16. How do I determine if no decision will be made?  
17. How do I determine which decision-maker has the most power?  
18. How do I determine which department has the most power? 
19. How do I develop a coach or internal champion? 
20. How do I differentiate myself and get customers to bond with me? 
21. How do I establish trust?   
22. How do I expand my presence across the account?  
23. How do I find out if am winning or losing?  
24. How do I find out if the customer is lying?  
25. How do I help my coaches sell my solution to their organization? 
26. How do I know if I will win or lose the deal?  
27. How do I know the purchase is budgeted and approved?
28. How do I make sure the customer will meet with me again?   
29. How do I meet with and win over C-level executives?   
30. How do I overcome my nervousness?  
31. How do I prepare for an account review with my sales manager?   
32. How do I present the value of my company my product and myself?    
33. How do Iprotect my pricing?  
34. How do I really know where the competition stands in my deal? 
35. How do I really understand my client's business?
36. How do I secure a meeting with a C-level executive? 
37. How do I structure a meeting with a C-level executive? 
38. How do I qualify the customer and the deal?  
39. How do I win over a politically complex evaluation committee?  
40. How does meeting with senior executives improve my chance of winning? 
41. How does the underdog beat goliath?   
42. How influential is our website and what do buyers look at? 
43. If mydeal is stalled, what should I do?   
44. Should I Introduce my senior executive team members to the client? 
45. Should I focus on sophisticated or less sophisticated buyers? 
46. Should I go after the business or respond to the RFP?
47. Should I answer "blind" RFPs? 
48. What are the best team selling practices?    
49. What are the best questions to ask a prospect and what should I be prepared for?  
50. What are the biggest mistakes I should avoid?  
51. What are the different sales strategies for enterprise platform and point specific sales cycles?  
52. What do top salespeople do that I don't? 
53. What selling style should I use?   
54. What should I do after I lose an important deal?
55. What should I do during the buyer's journey? 
56. What should I do if I'm losing the deal?  
57. What should I say when I meet with C-level executive?  
58. What should I do when I'm stuck with only a single lower level contact? 
59. What's the best day of the week to contact prospects? 
60. What's the best closing strategy?  
61. What's the best email to send to prospects? 
62. What's the best negotiation strategy? 
63. What's the best way to penetrate new accounts?  
64. When does the customer actually make their decision? - 
65. Where do the best leads come from? 
66. What's the best strategy for approaching procurement sourcing and supply chain? 
67. What's the best way to make a presentation? 
68. What's the best way to present customer success stories? 
69. What's the best way to sell to the opposite sex? 
70. What's the best way to structure sales calls?  
71. Why does my sales manager dislike me and what should I do? 
72. Why is the evaluation committee against me?

Steve W. Martin is the foremost expert on “Sales Linguistics,” the study of how salespeople and customers use language during the decision-making process. Steve is a noted sales researcher and the author the “Heavy Hitter” series of books on the human nature of complex sales. He teaches at the University of Southern California Marshall Business School MBA Program and is a frequent contributor Harvard Business Review. Visit www.stevewmartin.com for more information.