Where You Lost The Sale, How to Win It Back: Jennica Dixon’s New Book Tells All

Most complex sales are lost long before the sales team realizes it. 

That’s the contention of a new book by the father-daughter duo, Terry Slattery and Jennica Dixon of Slattery Sales. Wimp Junction, released in March, identifies the key places where most sales go wrong, and what sales teams can do to bring them back.

The Book’s Beginnings

About four decades ago, Terry pioneered a concept he now calls “Wimp Junction^®.”

It came about because Terry, early in his sales career, began to suspect that buyers weren’t telling him the truth about when a sale was lost. Over and over, he and his teams lost sales for reasons that didn’t make sense. For instance, the buyer would say that they chose the competitor due to budget, but the competitor’s price would be multiples of their own, and would include less benefit.

When Terry chased down the real reasons these sales were lost, he discovered that most buyers were lying from the start, and the sale was lost because he hadn’t had the courage to pursue the truth. He began to win more deals when he discovered how to take the lead in the sales journey and avoid wimp junction altogether.

Over the four decades since, the wimp junction concept has proven true across many industries and sales environments with complex sales teams. Through his company, Slattery Sales Group, Terry has been applying this concept to help companies increase margin and revenue since 1985.

Slattery’s daughter, Jennica, was raised in the company. She says she was accompanying sales trainings with her father as early as her toddler years. In 2012, Jennica joined the Slattery team officially and in 2022 took over the role of President of the company.

In 2023, she set about to co-write Wimp Junction to share the Slattery Sales system and insights with a broader sales audience.

What Is Wimp Junction and How Do You End Up There?

“Imagine the sales journey like a railroad coming to a point where there are two options,” says Jennica. “At the juncture, you can either follow the prospect’s buying system, or you can follow your selling system. A lot of sellers don’t realize that they’re taking the buyer’s route, and that it’s going to inevitably lead to them losing the sale.”

Most sellers take the buyer’s route because they don’t have the courage to take charge and drive the sale the way it should go. That’s why Terry and Jennica call this “Wimp Junction.” Once you’ve taken the wimp junction route, the sale follows an inevitable pattern of doom:

1. Step One: The prospect lies to the salesperson. This usually sounds like, “We’re interested.” But in truth, they’re not interested in making a change.
2. Step Two: The prospect gets the salesperson to provide valuable information and a quote amounting to unpaid consulting.
3. Step three: The prospect lies about what’s going to happen next. This sounds like, “This is awesome. Thank you, we’re going to think it over.” But actually, they’re not thinking it over, they’re taking the information that’s been provided & they’re going to competitors and/or the incumbent to drive a harder bargain, or they’re issuing an RFP based on the parameters your team provided them.
4. Step Four: The prospect doesn’t answer or return the salesperson’s call. Eventually, the salesperson gives up, and the sale goes dark.
   
   Step four is the point at which most salespeople think the project is going off the rails, when, in fact, it was much earlier, according to Jennica, when they believed the lie that the prospect told them at the beginning.

How to Win It Back

“In order to justify anything other than the lowest price,” says Jennica, “you have to bring your unique Differentiating Value to the table, and you have to have the right tactics to avoid getting trapped at Wimp Junction.”

One of the reasons I respect the Slattery Sales team so much is that they preach the truth: Effective complex sales begins long before the sales conversation. To avoid wimp junction, you have to lay the groundwork of effective messaging, rooted in your Differentiating Value.

You have to target the right customers in the right way. You have to reach the decision makers and engage with them in the right ways.

Wimp Junction presents a 9-step process for moving past Wimp Junction and closing more sales.

Slattery Sales Uses Membrain to Guide Sales Teams Through an Effective Sales Process

Slattery Sales uses Membrain to help client teams get on the same page with the right language and the right steps to avoid Wimp Junction. It enables them to teach the client the sales process, steps, and skills, and then for the client to follow the process as reinforced inside Membrain.

“We love that we can put the complex sales process into a beautifully streamlined, clean platform so there’s no distractions, and they stay focused on what they need to focus on,” says Jennica.

We love that Slattery Sales gains so much benefit from our product. Our partners are our greatest allies. I’m proud to be associated with Slattery Sales and with Jennica and her father Terry. And I highly recommend their new book.

You can purchase Wimp Junction at any major bookseller. I’d love to know what you think of it, too.