Think of the business development training programs you've attended—the sales books you've read—the internal discussions about selling.

What proportion of those efforts focused on:

1. The business process of selling: lead management, pipelines and sales funnels, account classifications, account planning, call planning, buyer/influencer categorization, account strategy development, forecasting, preparation of marketing and sales support materials?

vs.

2. The personal interactions of selling: the conduct of sales meetings, listening skills, question formulation, reading buyer signals, meeting design and facilitation, handling objections, talking price, presentation skills?

The firms I've worked with spend more time and effort on the former—much more. And their sales suffer as a result. Most need more emphasis on interpersonal interactions. This is evident in the numbers, and in buyer behavior.

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