A staggering nine out of 10 salespeople are not up to the job, according to sales performance agency Silent Edge, which published a report on the subject last month.

But can it be true that only 12% of salespeople demonstrate the skills to sell effectively? It’s almost certainly the most diffi cult position to recruit for. And once you’ve got a good one, they’re almost always the ones most likely to leave at the drop of a £50 note, but are they actually getting worse?

Or do some of you need to take some responsibility here? The dearth of good salespeople isn’t because they don’t exist, says Andrew Try, managing director of call centre services provider Comxo. Ironically, if a salesperson is very successful then they are often rapidly removed from the front line. “When salespeople become really good at their job, organisations move them into management,” he says, “which is not always the best thing for them or the organisation.”

Furthermore, salespeople who aren’t as successful are not given the investment from employers they need to do the job. As Try says: “Not nearly enough time or money is spent on salespeople, as companies want them out into the fi eld as soon as possible.” No wonder, as for small and mid-sized businesses like yours it’s often the case that every employee needs to add something from the off.

But is this investment more important now than ever before? According to Dr Peter Hughes, a master practitioner in neurolinguistic programming, selling is becoming a process. “Because of the sheer volume of advertising and marketing messages we’re all subjected to on a daily basis, we’ve become increasingly discerning about the type of messages we’re willing to listen to,” he says.

What’s more, Hughes believes traditional sales training methods are no longer relevant in our media-saturated environment. “Consumer attitudes have left them behind. Sellers who don’t understand this simply won’t survive,” he says.

Hughes claims that increasing awareness of the strategies used by salespeople means selling has to be based on listening, building a relationship and being more responsive and flexible.

“Technology and behaviours often change faster than people can adapt to that change,” he explains. “Retailers and organisations are very much at fault for not adapting quickly enough to the changing selling landscape.”

With the ability to buy online, and see reviews, alternatives and competitors’ prices in minutes, salespeople have a harder job in live sales situations. So can we really blame businesses for their decreasing effectiveness? Russell Ward, sales director of Silent Edge, thinks not.

“The traditional approach of the sales training industry has been orientated around selling the courses they want to sell to organisations,” he says. “I’ve spent thousands on sales training and haven’t seen results. A lot of salespeople have been on training courses that aren’t relevant to them and haven’t engaged with training since.”

Ward also believes it’s difficult to gauge whether salespeople need training. “If you interview me, I’m going to tell you how fantastic I am and how I’m going to smash my targets,” he says. “The last thing on your mind will be putting me on a course. You’re not going to assume that the people you employ need developing, and then you don’t know what to develop them on. How do employers know what skills they need?”

But businesses do need to ensure they’re not being left behind. As Darwin said, it’s not the strongest or most intelligent species that survives, ‘it is the one that is the most adaptable to change’.