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| Big Mistakes common to sales people |
It’s probably around the time of you being a salesperson that you begin to fall into some sales habit. Some good, some ain’t. This session focus on some of the bad habit that sales people tends to fall into, although those habit takes effort and concentration to break out of, but it really worth it. Having being through some research and study, I was able to come out with the twelve big sales mistake salespersons and business men and women make almost everytime
The most common mistake salespeople make is talking too much! The problem can easily arise maybe because you know your stuffs really well. You are talking to someone for a couple of minutes and the customer started talking and you jump in again “Yes I can do that!” Meanwhile they have other things they want to ask about but you ain’t just giving them space to express themselves. If you talk too much in a business chat, you are really making a big mistake because you’ll miss a lot of important information about the customer’s need while trying to tell them what “you feel” they actually needed. Nancy Stephen once said “the customers who feel that you communicate on their wavelength will open up to you more readily, will be more forthcoming with information and trust you more rapidly
Proceed at a leisurely pace when explaining yourself and your product. One of the common pitfalls of the inexperienced salesperson is the tendency to proceed too fast through the prepared presentation. Obviously, you know the material too well, but this may be the first time your potential customers has been exposed to it. Take the time to explain all aspect of your presentation, and pause periodically to give opportunities for questions. Remember, this is the first time, even if it’s your 10000th time, you still have to pace yourself; don’t get ahead of your buyers.
It is normal to expect that at times, particularly when you are starting out in sales, you will find yourself quite nervous over an upcoming sales call.
In times like this, you should shift your thoughts away from the customer and focus on thinking about your strength and what you bring to the table. With all your preparation and product knowledge, shift your focus to the other person and think about why they want to hear from you. This shifting of focus will naturally relax you, and you will find it more easier to be genuinely sincere and also project enthusiasm and confidence in your sales presentation thereby bringing about sales chances.
One of the worst mistakes a salesperson can make is to get so wrapped up in their product that they fall in love with it and forget to see that they have lost the receiver of the presentation along the way. Sales people can easily be caught up in telling the world about their great product or service when no one really cares. Often, this sales pitch ends up being to someone who’s not a real buyer or to someone who doesn’t have a need for your product. Selling is rarely about convincing someone but mainly about identifying who needs what you have and being the one being the one to get it for them. This brings about sales success.
Being poorly prepared is the number one reason why sales people don’t get the sales. You can really stand out from the pack and improve your sales ability by perfecting your ability to break the ice with your customers. A lot of sales people don’t do it as well as they could! And yet the first few minutes with customer is very important from building rapport to building trust and knowledge about the new client and the problem you’ll be able to solve. Your competitor outsells you because they know more about the client situation than you do, and they do a better job in solving the client’s problem. If you have developed the right relationship along the sale, then sometimes you can have a cordial conversation with that buyer and say “what’s wrong with my selling approach?” And they might tell you outrightly “you messed up!” Then correction would be made and you are good for the next sale.
6. EARLY ASKING FOR COMMITMENT
Asking for a commitment before the buyer has conceptually bought into your product or service is another big reason why you loose sales. If you are getting objections, that’s a big signal you’re going too fast. When they say something like “we have no money, there’s no time, we want to think about it.” This means you goofed. But hey! It’s not over yet! Hang in there, work the process and help the customer over the objection but to sound or behave to stubborn – trying to get the sales by all means
Complacency means being satisfied with your present situation. Sometimes experienced sales people get lazy. When you have been in sale for a long time, there are two things to watch for. Plateau because you are successful and happy and you are having a great life. The problem is that you really can’t stop in selling. You are going forward or you are going backwards. You can also get overconfident which is discounting all the things you did right in the beginning. Many at times, I’ve heard people say, “I used to do this and it worked fine.” Ask yourself, “When did I stopped doing this?” When you stopped doing that doesn’t even really matter as when you start doing it again. Many times, all you need to do is to rebuild the good skills and discipline you once had but what you start doing again varies from person to person.
8. OVER REACTION TO OBJECTION
When you encounter objections, Don’t go into a reactionary mode which is what many salespeople do. What you should do is listen, this is where you need major control over your facial expressions. Don’t look like you are being hit with a stick, don’t look like it’s the end of the world. Look like you are interested and curious about how they feel. then you ask a question. The question asked to be extremely open-ended and very investigative. Something like “could you explain a little bit more?” “Describe that”. When an objective comes up get them talking to hear the rest of the story. And then you’ll want to acknowledge or summarize ” If I am hearing you correctly you are concerned about….” This offer proof to the other people that you are listening. It’s also give them the opportunity to add more if you if you didn’t get it correctly. Now, when you go to answer them. Answer them from the information. You just got. For each objection, there is a way to respond by interpreting the objection, not at face value, but in the context of what they really want from you and from your product or service.
9. DISCUSSING YOUR PRODUCT FROM YOUR OWN PERSPECTIVE
A big sale trap Is talking about your product or Services strictly in terms of feature. That is; what the product or Services is. By focusing on features, you miss the opportunity to articulate value. Value articulation comes from being able to discuss your product and services from the customers’ perspective rather than yours. You must be able to bridge the gap between what your product or service is. And what it actually does for customers. Don’t sell products, sell solution! Think of your customer need and how you can help rather than thinking of meeting up with your weekly sales target.
Overselling is a big turnoff and enters the picture for many reasons. You might be under a lot of pressure to meet a quota, You might be rushing this one to go sell the next one, In each case has your tendency of trying too hard wouldn’t help. The real test is to ask yourself when it feels like You are selling too hard, “Whose agenda am I coming from, mine or the customer’s?” Customer Focused selling keeps you out of the Trap of selling from your agenda.
11. MISTAKING BEING BUSY FOR BEING PRODUCTIVE
When you are busy all day long, It feels great! However at the end of your day is doesn’t matter what you did. it’s matters If you did the right things! don’t mistake busy for productive. Don’t let the business to run you; you must run the business. Don’t hope for sales to happen; make them happen. Don’t be reactive; be proactive. Real productivity comes from a well-designed strategy and day-to-day implementation.
Research has shown that 70% of all sales are made after the fifth contact. However, most sales people stopped selling efforts after the second contact. see the problem? Just when the customer is beginning to warm up most sales follow-up as being tossed aside. Obviously you are missing sales opportunities, but Even moreso, you ain’t getting paid appropriately for the time you have invested! Don’t let go of a prospective customer until you both decide it’s not a good fit! Remember, by making slight extra effort, there’s a good chance you’ll stand out against the competition and be noticed. Make the effort to advertise that you are a professional and that’s how you do business. Follow up can be in many forms ranging from telephone calls to E-mails, Faxes, Notes, and even social media outreach.
IN CONCLUSION: Now that you’ve understand the principle which you may have learnt before now. Of course, knowing them and using them are two different things. Value yourself and your customer enough to forsake these mistakes as you go out on your next sale. Don’t focus on selling techniques, rather focus on helping the customer. Forget about trying to find the perfect sales intro or finding the perfect response to the most likely objections. Instead, focus on helping your customer. Don’t focus on your product amazing features but rather focus on your customers’ needs.
If you like this post, share with your business owner friends or sales representative and let them be able to figure out and correct the mistakes they had been making. Thanks for taking the time to read to this extent, Follow us on all our social media platforms (link at the sidebar) We love you!
Stay Successful!