Because salespeople are under pressure to get the numbers, it's tempting for them to slip into "transactional" relationships with clients based on making a quick sale.

Part 1: Why you're not selling

Note: This is the first in a series of articles about using collaboration to craft a better sales strategy. Read Part II here.

Is your sales team coming up short? Many sales leaders are faced with disappointing performance, even when they've seemingly supplied all the right ingredients — thorough sales training, good compensation plans, and a great product. So what's getting in the way? Often, the problem is that the principles of collaboration are overlooked in the sales process.

What does "selling collaboratively" mean? It means involving a broad range of stakeholders, both internally and at the client's organization. It means looking beyond a one-time sale, fostering meaningful communication that assesses the client's needs and grows the long-term business relationship.

In future articles, we'll look at how to sell collaboratively. First, let's take a look at some potential missteps by companies that ignore collaboration when trying to make a sale:

• Missing customer objectives: By trying to make a quick sale and not meeting with all the client's key stakeholders, you run the risk of overlooking their key objectives. Failing to deliver a customized solutions could mean losing the sale or damaging a long-term relationship.
• Over-promising: If your salespeople aren't in communication with your team members that actually deliver the product, they can end up unintentionally misrepresenting your capabilities and promising feature you don't offer.
• Creating internal confusion: Many people at your company are involved in selling, communicating with the client, and delivering the product. If their roles and responsibilities aren't clear, it can create confusion, infighting, and the perception of disorganization.
• Missing sales opportunities: Salespeople often become "wedded" to individuals in a client organization because it's easy to sell to them. But by failing to reach out beyond your usual contacts, you can miss out on potential new buyers and lose a sale.
• Short-term thinking: Because salespeople are under pressure to get the numbers, it's tempting for them to slip into "transactional" relationships with clients based on making a quick sale. This often means bypassing key stakeholders internally and externally, which can lead to lost opportunities and a dissatisfied customer.
• Wasting time: By meeting with the wrong people on the client side, you can end up losing time in meaningless meetings. This can happen when you incorrectly identify key decision-makers and stakeholders.

As the last example implies, the key to collaborative sales is appropriate involvement — determining who the key players are, and optimizing their time and effort to ensure meaningful collaboration. Examples of the players you might want to involve include key decision-makers, individuals responsible for implementing or delivering the product, potential deal-blockers, tech and administrative support people, accounting staff, buyers, and internal "information providers" who can supply history or additional business contacts.

Of course, every sale is unique, so in future articles we'll look at how to determine which players to involve in a sale. We'll explore the best ways to avoid the problems mentioned above, and help ensure that you're making the best use of collaboration in your sales strategy.