8 Mistakes Made By Security & Access Control Sales Teams

Commercial property owners’ top priority is the safety and security of their properties and systems.

But the way to achieve those goals is changing drastically. Property owners want solutions that they can monitor remotely and update instantly. At the same time, they want to keep up with emerging security trends and technologies. 

This influx of information can lead to team members making critical mistakes that can cost a sale.

Here are some mistakes to look out for from your team members.

1. Inefficient lead generation

The smartest way to increase revenue is to have your representatives focused on high-quality prospects. Tasking your top salespeople to cold-call unqualified leads wastes time and resources. Even the most talented rep won’t be able to close a deal with the wrong lead.

But this isn’t necessarily the salesperson’s fault. They may be operating on a lack of market intelligence. That can lead them to the wrong kind of prospects. When you buy the wrong leads, they’ll cost you money.

Your team needs to make the most of their time by targeting ideal customer profiles and leveraging solutions to discover the right prospects interested in security.

2. Limited understanding of industry trends, technologies, and compliance requirements.

Even if you reach the right audience, you have to convince them to select your product over the competition. The wisest way to do that is by staying updated on industry trends, technologies, and compliance requirements. A good salesperson doesn’t just sell a product or service—they sell the value of their offering. 

A buyer wants to understand why your company’s products are the most appropriate fit for them. They need to know how your security systems are on the cutting edge of industry trends. Speaking to this will help you to gain a prospect’s trust.

3. Challenges in tracking and progressing leads through the sales process

If you did the discovery work to find relevant prospects, the worst thing to do is lose control of the sales process. The access control market is climbing steadily, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 8.7 percent until at least 2026. 

Your prospects need solutions that are cutting edge—and they need them fast. Commercial building owners need to automate security systems and secure their buildings with the touch of a button.

If you struggle to lead them through the process, you’ll lose them to the competition.

4. Insufficient knowledge of client requirements and pain points.

Selling smarter entails having a complete understanding of your client’s paint points. For example, they may be in the market for access control software—but what systems are they trying to regulate?

To provide any solution, salespeople on your security teams need to understand what prospects need to make their job easier. The inability to do so will lead to decreased customer satisfaction. 

You only get one chance at a first impression. That prospect won’t forget that feeling of disappointment. If you can’t show your team’s unique value proposition, that will make the difference between closing the deal or not. 

5. Difficulty in differentiating from competitors and highlighting unique strengths.

With a booming market, prospects have many security and access control providers they can go with. Why should they choose you? If you can’t articulate the reason, the deal will be lost. 

It’s easy to get caught up researching prospects and forget about the true purpose of these conversations—helping people. Your reps need to be as knowledgeable as possible to gain confidence in guiding customers through the buying decision. No amount of manual research will help get reps to that level of excitement and expertise. 

6. Time and effort spent on manual research for client information and market insights

Doing your homework is important. But if you don’t do it well, it’s a waste of time and resources. If a salesperson spends too much time on manual research, their productivity will suffer. They’ll lose time for core activities, such as following up with prospects.

Successful outreach campaigns require reps to reach out to prospects multiple times. It’s proven to boost lead response rate by 160 percent. If your team member can’t find the time to reach out to prospects enough, that contact will drop off.

7. Lack of timely and consistent communication with leads and existing clients.

There’s an art to communicating with prospects and clients. It needs to be consistent and at the right time. If you give up or let a person slip through the cracks. If a security system is out, a property owner isn’t going to wait to make a purchase. They’ll reach out to a more communicative competitor.

Consider  80 percent of sales require five follow-up calls and 44 percent of reps give up after just one of those calls. Customers want to build relationships with a salesperson before purchasing a solution. 

A customer or prospect trusts your rep with their building’s security systems. It’s a big decision. People need a few conversations before they can feel comfortable making a purchasing decision.

8. Inability to track and analyze key sales metrics effectively

Without the ability to measure your key performance indicators, your team can’t improve. Your reps need to understand what their challenges are to pivot sales methodologies in order to close deals. Teams often find themselves in this situation when they’re using the wrong tools. 

Using a tool that produces poor sales data will only harm your team. A recent study shows that inaccurate B2B data wastes 27.3 percent of a rep’s time. You have to pay to prevent and correct mistakes from that data. 

Working with bad information also hurts a salesperson’s relationship with a prospect. That will lead them to approach conversations unprepared, which will leave a poor first impression on that lead. A bad first impression diminishes the chances of closing a deal.

Conclusion

To avoid critical mistakes that may cost potential sales, it is crucial for teams to focus on efficient lead generation and target high-quality prospects.

Staying updated on industry trends, technologies, and compliance requirements is vital for teams to effectively communicate the value of their offerings and gain customer trust.

Additionally, effectively tracking and progressing leads through the sales process, understanding client requirements and pain points, and highlighting unique strengths over competitors are essential for closing deals successfully.

Finally, investing time in manual research and lacking timely, consistent communication can hinder sales efforts, emphasizing the importance of using accurate sales metrics to continually improve performance and build strong relationships with clients.

Constant learning is the key to building a successful sales team. Once you work with the sales reps on your security and access team to work through common selling mistakes, you’ll start seeing results in no time. Learn tips for sales professionals in security access and control.