10 Mistakes Your Security Guard Sales Team Should Avoid

Selling security guard services is admittedly not the sexiest of jobs, but with the right attitude and motivation you can do well both professionally and financially.  In order to be great at security guard sales, or sales in general, it requires extensive reading and even more practice.  One of the first books that I read and refer back to fairly regularly is The 25 Most Common Sales Mistakes and How to Avoid Them by Stephan Schiffman.  Stephan is a Certified Management Consultant who has trained and consulted with corporations such as IBM, Motorola, and Cigna.  He has trained over 500,000 professionals across 9,000+ companies.  Of the 25 most common mistakes outlined in his book, there are 10 that are essential to anyone involved in security guard sales.  I have taken the liberty of summarizing those 10 below.

Mastering Security Guard Sales

Security guard service is one of the most competitive industries that exists (if it isn’t it, sure does feel like it) and losing a sale can be the result of being a penny too high or making easily avoidable mistakes.  Here are 10 mistakes that you should be aware of.

  1. Not Being Obsessed – Being great at sales requires dedication and total commitment to reaching your goal, to the point of obsession.  But keep in mind that being obsessed does not mean that you have to give up  your personal life.  What it does mean is that you have to make a commitment to yourself that drives your sales related activities daily.
  2. Not Listening to the Prospect – Many times salespeople think that selling is more about talking than listening.  But when you get down to it, a good salesperson doesn’t so much sell as help his prospect solve a problem.  Zig Ziglar was quoted as saying “Stop selling.  Start helping.”
  3. Not Empathizing with the Prospect – As a salesperson you must be capable of seeing things from your prospect’s perspective.  Remember that you are not going to be the most important thing on your prospect’s to-do list.  Develop respect for your prospect’s time and mindset.
  4. Not Taking Notes – Taking notes will aid you both in listening to your prospect and helping you keep their needs and wants in mind.  By taking notes you show that you are organized, professional, and concerned with the prospect’s interest.  You may also find that prospects talk more when you are taking notes because it reinforces their desire to speak.  This in turn gives you more to write…a self perpetuating cycle.  Keep in mind that these notes will help you target your approach moving forward.
  5. Failing to Follow Up – Failing to follow up gives your prospects an opportunity to forget about you and your company.  As a security guard sales professional you must stay top of mind with your prospects, otherwise your competition will be more than willing to take their attention.  Remember your prospect is not sitting around saying “Wow I can’t wait to meet with that salesperson again”, they move onto their next task.
  6. Not Taking the Prospect’s Point of View – Although as a salesperson you are probably very aware of your company’s offerings, you must look at how those offerings benefit the prospect.  It’s a common mistake to talk about your training programs or hiring practices without translating those benefits into the customer’s language.  For example you might be tempted to say “Our officers use OfficerReports daily activity report software for submitting daily activity reports”.  You should go one step further and translate that into “Ms. Prospect you will never have to wait on a report, because they are always accessible on the web”.  
  7. Not Taking Pride in Your Work –  You must stand behind your company and services with pride.  If you don’t believe in your company, then the prospect surely won’t.  Chances are they have received bad service from other firms, so taking pride in your services will help assuage any apprehension.  If you don’t take pride in your service and organization, you will not be successful.
  8. Trying to Convince, Rather than Convey – As part of a security guard sales team you must realize that selling is not about getting other people to see your point of view.  Rather, it is about conveying to the prospect how and why you can help solve their security related issues.
  9. Taking Rejection Personally – As a professional responsible for security guard sales, you can not see rejection as a personal affront.  Rejection is just part of the overall sales cycle, every “no” that you get puts you 1 step closer to a “yes”, perseverance pays off in abundance.  

    “I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature”. -John D. Rockefeller

  10. Underestimating the Importance of Prospecting – Of all the habits that your security guard sales team can develop, commitment to prospecting is most likely to ensure sales success.  According to Grant Cardone the problem with closing a sale is that you always lose your best prospect.  You must be laser focused on ALWAYS keep something in your pipeline, otherwise you will come to regret it.

This list is not a cure-all and will not provide you with an instant turn-around for poor security guard sales.  But using this list in combination with the right focus and motivation will provide a great place to start a turn-around.
If you are responsible for security guard sales, what would you add to this list?  Is there anything that you disagree with?  I would love to hear your thoughts.
security guard sales
By Courtney Sparkman

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