However warm it might feel in the moment, this “sweethearting” did not improve salesperson performance in either of the two studies Dr. These actions usually generate a warm response from customers, and what lonely person doesn’t want to generate a more positive emotional reaction from the people they spend time with? It’s not hard to understand why someone who’s lonely would want to buy their clients gifts and meals, or why they might want to reduce the price to maintain a client friendship. Good’s studies showed that salesperson loneliness was directly connected to increased spending on customers. Nowhere was the direct cost of salesperson loneliness more readily apparent than their expense account. This impaired memory early in the process winds up hobbling them when they try to close. Without a clear understanding of customer-specific needs and goals, sellers are unable to create a compelling or differentiated story about their solution. We also saw evidence that because they don’t have enough meaningful social connections outside their job, sellers can wind up treating the customer as a confidante, someone they share with, rather than someone whose needs should be the organizing element of the conversation. As one seller told us, “I’m on with 20 customers a day, and every call feels the same.” This lack of distinction makes what happened (and what the customer said) harder to remember. When each customer is just another tiny box on your same computer, in the same room, talking about the same things, they bleed together.
![em client review cost em client review cost](http://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-gardiner-com/uploads/Projects/Latham-Watkins/LathamWatkins_Corridor.jpg)
In a virtual environment, the visual cues that make each customer distinctive and memorable are often absent. The data revealed that these lonely sellers were more likely to forget critical customer information. Sellers who are overeager for social connection don’t listen deeply during the needs assessment phase of the sales process. An awkward start has a chilling effect on customer engagement and can derail or, at the very least stall, what could have been a successful sales process. Without the buffer of peers in close proximately to help them reset, this could increase the potential for a confidence deficit, contributing to even more initial awkwardness on the next call. Buyers are less likely to engage, and the trust required for relationship building doesn’t happen.įurther compounding this problem is the fact that sellers may be coming into a sales interaction moments after having been rejected by a previous customer. While not surprising - all of us are a little awkward these days - sellers play a particularly heavy price for missing social cues. Sellers in the studies were frequently observed misreading social signals and misjudging the importance of key details in exchanges with customers. When social skills aren’t routinely practiced, they deteriorate like any other muscle. Findings revealed that salesperson loneliness is causing three problematic behaviors that ultimately create a cycle of poor performance: 1. Good’s data was gathered from two studies that surveyed more than 250 B2B and B2C salespeople from a variety of industries, as well as follow-up qualitative interviews, performance data, and observations of more than a dozen sales teams. Good) reveals that loneliness goes beyond just a hit to morale - it has begun to impact salesperson behavior with customers, leading to an erosion of revenue, margin, and market reputation. Recent research conducted by one of us (Dr. Left unaddressed, salesperson loneliness can become a costly problem. I’m realizing I need more social interactions, but at the end of the day, I’m too exhausted to make the effort.”
![em client review cost em client review cost](https://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/IMG_20180903_102707-1.jpg)
Now, I’m on Zoom just trying to stay awake. Without these emotionally engaging elements, and without a bullpen of colleagues to buoy their spirits, sales jobs are increasingly becoming transactional and lonely roles.Īs one seller put it, “Before, I was busy all the time, and some of it was fun.
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In an agenda-driven video sales call, the social elements (handshakes, shared coffee, etc.) that once humanized the sales interaction have been stripped away. Sales organizations are hiring more remote employees and video calls are the expected norm. Our clients are reporting that a portion of buyers are permanently working from home. Many of the changes to the sales profession are no longer temporary. However, when the pandemic sent salespeople home to Zoom, the loneliness became palpable.