Let’s face it, some of us are better at sales than others, but we were not always great and I’ll bet, even if you’re great at sales now, you’ve made some of these mistakes at some point. Perhaps even recently, when you’ve been rushed and not done what you know you should. So, whether you are a seasoned and effective salesperson or just starting your journey in sales, here are some great reminders. And, business owners, remember, if you’re in business, you are very likely in sales too.
Mistakes Salespeople Make
1. Not Responding Promptly to An Enquiry
A number of my clients are at capacity at present and really not looking for a tonne more work, but as I always say in my business coaching sessions, initially respond promptly. You might return the call and nicely explain that it will be 4-5 weeks before you can get out to quote, are they happy to wait? Or perhaps before you quote, find out how long before they need the work done. This isn’t just about being (a) helping and communicative with your prospect or (b) lining up work later which suits the prospect just fine, but it’s also about (c) not building a rep for being slack because you never return calls.
2. Presuming Your Prospect is Your Mother or Secretary
If you answer the phone, then do your job. You might be working, up on a roof, in another sales meeting or anything else, but when you’re speaking to a prospect, then do your job. That means you don’t say to your prospect, “I don’t have a pen/time/effort at the moment; can you text me your name, address and what you’re wanting?” And especially don’t say, “Hey, can you text me on Friday and remind me I’m coming to quote your job?”
3. Not Being Prepared
This comes in two parts. Firstly, not knowing your prospect or service particularly well, assuming that well, your prospect will know less. With a smartphone in every adult’s hand, knowledge is literally at our fingertips. If someone is considering buying, they might just do a little research first!
Being prepared is also turning up with your quote tools – whether that’s a tape measure, the right samples or actually looking up a business online before you call them, so you don’t ask any dumb questions, or can even demonstrate your knowledge, for example: “I noticed you’ve got three offices in the Sydney region; which one were you wanting xyz for?” May I also say, turn up on time; not heaps early or late, unless you communicate with the prospect first and let them know you’re running late, or ask if it’s ok to come early as you’re ahead of schedule.
4. Lying to A Prospect or Disrespecting Them
As I said before, a good number of prospects do their research, so lying to them is one sure way to totally cut down any trust that might be present; in fact, you’ll go into the negative as far as a trust score goes. People do business with people they like, know and trust. And with so many people on social media and online, if this is something you do regularly, I’d bet you’ll have earned yourself a (bad) reputation.
The second part of this is disrespecting them; now, that can be a number of things. Being rude, being condescending or perhaps (as one salesperson did to me recently) taking not one, but several phone calls during the sales meeting. When you do that, you’re clearly saying you don’t respect the prospect’s time, so really, you don’t respect them.
5. Making It Hard for The Person to Buy
How many websites ask waaaaay too much information? You only need a name, number, email and maybe postcode (if you’re like me and offer business coaching to different places like Perth, Melbourne or Brisbane). Signing up shouldn’t be hard or complicated; the harder you make each step, the more likely you have of someone just calling it quits, pulling out or going elsewhere. In some industries, you might need information, but try to make the process as easy as possible for the prospect.
6. Thinking It’s The 1950s
Asking a homeowner if her husband will be present at the sales meeting is a sure-fire way to get her offside. I know, you’re thinking, I want all decision makers present, but when it comes to household purchases, 85-90% of decisions are made by the female. In other aspects such as finance, business and economics, women are sick of being treated like second-class citizens, dummies or incapable. Some salespeople ask ‘What does your decision-making process look like?’ The response will give you a lot of information (without insulting your prospect), such as “quotes will be submitted to the executive committee” or “I’m getting another quote on Monday and then I’ll let you know” or “I’ll discuss it with my partner and we’ll let you know”. Warning though, don’t ask this straight up; build a bit of rapport first with the person.
7. Badmouthing A Competitor
Prospects hate this – it makes them really uncomfortable and it reduces their trust in you. You can educate a client, such as “It’s somewhat common in this industry that some firms will get you to sign a 12 months contract, however I only ask for notice to stop or pause” is education, versus “Oh no, don’t go with Jack; he has a reputation as an awful coach and legally forces any client who has left to pay out the 12 months, even if they don’t use it”. It might be true, but it’s unprofessional and wrong to say, and it won’t win you the client.
8. Not Listening During The Sales Meeting
Ask questions as you go, but super importantly, listen. By listening, you will often learn so much which will really help you in the sales process. For this reason, often introverts make great salespeople, because they are very good at listening. If you know you have a tendency to want to interrupt and respond (without letting them finish), make a note of the subject to circle back to and literally sit on your hands (that’s often a good way to remind yourself to shut up!).
9. Rushing The Sale
It’s called sales process for a reason. If you’re talking about buying pens, then very little ‘wooing’ is actually needed, but when it comes to selling say a house, or buying a car, or selecting a consultant, then you want to know you’ve got the best person AND that you know you can work well with them. They need to actually like you on a personal level. Let that process occur and don’t rush it by trying to skip steps. If you’re going to do something, then do it well!
10. Rushing The Prospect
Likewise, rushing the prospect doesn’t work either. If they feel hurried, they will start to worry, why is s/he rushing me? What’s wrong? They sense panic, or that there is a problem and will likely back up – or rather, back out. No-one wants the ‘buy within the next 60 seconds or else’ message. Sure, you can put a time limit on things, such as 30 days for your quote validity, but don’t be pushy and force a client to buy on the spot.
11. Quoting Wrong
Now, here I’m not talking about getting the price wrong (although obviously that is an issue) but more about how you quote. A price on the back of a business card doesn’t cut it. Nor does a quote sent out 3 weeks later (unless it was something huge, like building a house and the prospect knew to expect the quote in 3-4 weeks). The other quote error is assuming that because you emailed over the quote that they got it. 50% of emails end up in spam folders, so you do need to check that it was received.
12. Not Following Up
Rookie mistake. 80% of prospects expect you to follow up; it’s your job and they expect you will do your job. It is not harassment, haranguing or being a nuisance (unless you are doing it in a really annoying way). Follow-up is a critical step in a sales process. Again, comes in the listening here. If the person says, “Don’t call me, I’ll call you”, that is quite different from “Oh gosh, I’m so busy till the end of the month, can we talk next month and run through it then?” In the case of the latter, I’d be responding “Of course, I’ll give you a call back, say around the 5th? Would that suit you?”
13. Not Recognising That Things Change
The times they are a-changin’ … isn’t just a Bob Dylan song. It’s reality. In marketing and technology, things are moving at breakneck speeds; sales is a little slower, but it still is changing. What worked years ago in sales might work now, but chances are, it needs a variation to remain effective. For example, an online store is technology-based; but you can bring in the ‘human factor’ by having FAQ pages, About Us page (with images of the team) and social media posts which engage on a human level. Your website might be fully automated and technology-driven, but that doesn’t mean it needs to feel like a robot, from an engagement perspective.
As a business coach with over 3 decades of real-world experience, plus a number of quals – I help clients in many aspects of business, including money, marketing, sales, operations and team, goal setting, as well as soft skills such as time management, motivation and mindset. I love helping small business owners achieve their full potential. If you’d like to discover how I can help you – whether it’s growth-based, improvement or correction – reach out today for a free sample session via this link. I’d love to hear from you.
Read Building a Trade Business Through People Relationships.
