Penalties are assessed in the sales game when salespeople break the rules.
The rules are clear.
A penalty is assessed when a salesperson becomes a "professional visitor".
There must be a reason to make sales calls or visit customers. Stopping by to socialize wastes time for both the salesperson and customer or prospect.
If salespeople continuously visit prospects with no agenda, they are labeled stalkers!
Another penalty is assessed when a salesperson uses "lowest price" to close business.
It is physically impossible to offer the "lowest price" as another who desperately wants the business will "give the farm away" to capture it.
The result of the low-price game is a shrinking bottom line.
A final penalty is assessed when a salesperson relies solely on features and benefits to close business.
Competitors will use the same features and benefits, and you will all begin to sound alike.
If none of you offers any compelling point of differentiation, it will always boil down to who is the least expensive among competitors.
Like any game, the sales game must have a clear way to win.
The sales game is won when salespeople act professionally and treat selling as a profession rather than a way to meet their social needs.