When a great product isn’t selling, the salesperson is probably to blame, right? Pure myth, says Martyn Lewis, founder, president, and CEO of Market–Partners (www.market–partners.com) and author of the book Sales Wise: A Journey Through Sales and Selling. In reality, he points out, selling is only one part of a larger system, in which all aspects of the company — from the executive suite and technical support to marketing and distribution — should be aligned in well–defined roles that support the efforts and objectives of sales.

Here are five other sales myths Lewis cites, and the corresponding realities:

Myth: Great salespeople are entrepreneurial lone rangers.
Reality: More than anyone one else in the company, salespeople’s pay is directly tied to results. Therefore, they tend to be highly motivated, success–oriented pros. However, in companies that have mapped out and adopted a companywide sales strategy and process, salespeople function more as team members who drive profitability.

Myth: A good product at a great price will sell itself.
Reality: This would only be true if your company had researched customers’ buying motives and found that discounted price was their No. 1 priority — which is rarely the case. More often, if contributing factors such as delivery, customer relations, and technical support fall short, customers will choose a pricier competitor.

Myth: If sales understood the product better, sales would increase.
Reality: Actually, if everyone in the company — e.g., marketing, product developers, IT, and fulfillment, to name a few — understood sales better, sales would increase.

Myth: When salespeople don’t use a consistent company or product “pitch,” sales effectiveness suffers.
Reality: Again, it’s tempting to blame the salesperson. A more holistic way to look at this issue is to ask, Does leadership have a clear vision for how to engage customers, and have they communicated this vision clearly across the organization? Has marketing created messages, based on this vision, that are meaningful to customers? Does everyone at the company speak the same brand language?

Myth: Sales coaching and training are sure ways to boost sales effectiveness.
Reality: In more situations than not, it’s how a salesperson is applying his or her skills, not the skills themselves. Correcting this involves a deeper understanding of the sales process. For example, you may be able to improve the way in which a salesperson presents a message, but if he or she is presenting the wrong message, to the wrong people, at the wrong time, you are unlikely to see any benefit by simply improving their presentation skills.

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