Do you get excited when you have to call your cable, internet, or phone provider?
Sales people have gotten a bad reputation because of things like a lack of coaching, which has led us to prefer other methods of communication like live chats or texts instead of speaking with someone directly.
There are several common mistakes that almost every salesperson makes during their sales career. Salespeople tend to exaggerate, overestimate, misinterpret, and otherwise miss the mark while trying to win a sale.
Here’s a cheat-sheet to help you avoid making common mistakes that salespeople make, and how to solve them.
1. Not Picking Up on Pain or Interest Signals
Even if sales coaches and managers provide reps with a list of the right questions to ask customers, they cannot coach them on how to listen for the answers.
Although experience can help us know what to listen for, it is better to quickly recognize the pain signals that go along with discovery questions.
Solution: Work backwards from the value prop
When constructing a list of discovery questions, you should keep the eventual goal in mind.
This question is aligned with my value prop in the following way: By asking questions that are likely to elicit answers that reveal the value proposition, I am more likely to get prospects to reveal what they need and want, and how my offering can help them.
It should look something like this:
What are reliable sources for health information? The internet has a lot of health information, but it is not always reliable. Surface Level Pain Statement: I need to know what are reliable sources for health information.
Pain Statement: I need to be able to find reliable sources for health information so that I can make sure I am getting accurate information. Value Proposition: We provide reliable sources for health information so that you can be sure you are getting accurate information. Customer Story: I was able to find a reliable source for health information and I was able to make sure I was getting accurate information.
Asking your customers questions is a good way to get to know them and their needs better. However, sometimes sales reps can get too wrapped up in trying to sell a product or service and forget why they asked the question in the first place. This guide will help sales reps remember why they asked a question and what to do afterwards.
2. Failing to Recognize and Overcome Objections
An objection is something that a prospect says while they are on the phone that is not a common objection, or “Buyer Script.”
I believe that almost everything that a prospects says is an objection.
What are your rates? How long will it take to set up? Is there a free trial? I don’t have time to talk to you right now.
These are all objections!
Solution: Practice your common objections and get to the truth
Understand this.
The most effective sales people understand that they aren’t necessarily overcoming objections as much as they are trying to get to the heart of the matter.
When you think of objection handling from the viewpoint of the person who is objecting, everything changes.
If you hear a buyer say that they need to speak with their spouse/other decision makers, you should use a scripted objection handling technique. You should also be prepared to answer similar objections, such as “call me back later” or “I need to think about it.”
Sometimes it’s hard to tell if an objection is legitimate or not because we’re so eager to have an answer.
If a prospect asks you how long it will take to implement your solution, it is important to consider why they are asking before responding. Do not make assumptions about the reasons for their question.
What techniques can you use to stay in control and get a complete understanding of these types of questions?
The truth can be uncomfortable, and people may try to avoid conflict by telling you they need to think about it rather than telling you what’s holding them back from making a purchase. Keep in mind that you’re only trying to get to the truth.
3. Losing Control of The Call
There are two types of calls that can result in a shorter sales cycle: inbound and outbound. When reps lose control of the call, they fail to do adequate discovery, spill the candy in the lobby (see video below), and waste precious leads.
Solution: For inbound calls — focus on the “why?”
If you have ever received a phone call from your website, mailer, or anything else, you may have heard this before.
Can you tell me how much this costs? or Can you tell me about ______?
What is the best way to go about giving someone pricing information?
No!
This is where a lot of reps mess up the call.
You can control the direction of the conversation by the questions you ask, which makes the conversation more predictable and in your favor.
It sounds like finding a job is important to you and I’ll make sure we cover that. Is it ok if I ask you a few questions first to get an understanding of what you’re looking for and then we can go over the job market?
Sound good?
If you start the call, you can control the tone and set an agenda without pushing the prospect away.
The potential customer wants pricing and information, but you have to build value before giving it to them or they will hang up and call the next place.
Solution: For outbound calls — be human
It’s harder to take or keep control of an outbound call. There are more opportunities for making mistakes.
You need to strike a balance between talking and listening, be compelling without being interruptive, and keep the person’s attention even though you’ve interrupted their thoughts.
The best way to engage someone in a conversation is to ask questions. If you find yourself repeating yourself, it may be time to switch gears and ask your conversation partner some questions.
It is important to take the time to get to know your potential customers and to be aware of your own goals and objectives. If you can do this effectively, you will make a great impression from the start and be able to keep the conversation going in a way that meets your goals.
4. Not Listening and Talking Too Much
If you’re trying to sell something, you naturally want to talk about it a lot. You want to describe the benefits and features of your product, and show off your knowledge. But sometimes, less is more.
pushy salespeople are not as effective as considerate ones
Instead of doing all the talking, listen more and ask open-ended questions. You should be doing 60% listening and 40% talking.
The study found that the most successful salespeople in B2B sales only spoke 43% of the time, allowing their prospects to speak 57% of the time.
If you want to understand the customer’s business needs and offer a better tailored service, listen more and ask targeted questions. This will also help you get to know them as individuals, including their preferences and tastes, and show that you care.
Asking questions and listening enables you to let the potential customer do the job for you-revealing their main pains and identifying ways you can solve them.
This is especially helpful when you are trying to get new customers and figuring out if they are qualified to buy your product.
5. Offering Too Much for Nothing
When salespeople try to offer too much help without charging for it, they become an unpaid consultant. This is a negative spin-off of talking too much, because it means the salesperson is not getting paid for their time.
There is, of course, value in being helpful. However, there should be limits to how helpful you are. Prospects love to get information and advice from sales reps, even when they have no intention of actually buying anything.
Don’t forget that information is power!
Don’t offer free consultations to try and win a prospect – instead, offer solutions to their problems in the form of your sales offering.
Talking about solutions…
6. Not Focusing on The Solution
This is the most important tip, even though it may be old.
You might think that as a salesperson, bragging about all the great features of your product or service would help to make a sale. However, this is not the case.
It is more important to explain how your product can solve the main issues that your potential customer is trying to address, rather than going into detail about its features.
If you’re in the HR consultancy business, it’s better to focus on how your services can help reduce staff turnover and increase quarterly KPI achievement rates, rather than describing the seminars, workshops, and employee-development handbooks you offer.
The solution you offer will be a benefits that will encourage prospects to buy!
Your prospects are interested in the results you can produce for them, not in the details of how you produce those results.
I am trying to say that features are important, but benefits are what truly sell a product.
7. Focusing On Price Not Value
People buy value, not price.
If you think that lowering the price will increase sales, you are mistaken. It is time to come to your senses.
Heavily relying on low prices in order to attract customers is only a short-term solution and will not result in long-term customer loyalty.
This type of customer is not loyal and will only buy from you if you have the lowest price. They will leave as soon as somebody else offers a better deal.
Do you really need that?
Price is not always the decisive factor for customers. They also care about value. If the value is high, they will be willing to pay a higher price.
If you want your prospect to purchase a more expensive item, remind them that buying cheap often means sacrificing quality, and that in the long run, this can end up costing more money. Quality items usually have a higher initial cost, but this is offset by their lower long-term costs.
8. Making Promises You Can’t Keep
Overpromising and underdelivering equals to mere lying in business.
No matter how much you want to sell, it is not a good idea to start any relationship by lying. If you exaggerate your product or service capabilities, or hide limitations or special conditions, it will not help you in the long run.
Would you want to spend your money on lies? I don’t think so.
But how do you sell then? Here are two suggestions:
- Instead of over-promising, let the prospects sell to themselves. You can do it by asking the right questions that’ll gently push the prospect to the right direction. In the end, they’ll convince themselves that they need your product.
- Another way is particularly suitable for the free trial stage. To make sure your prospects are pleasantly surprised, you can actually under promise and over deliver. If the expectations are low, but the product can actually do more, then prospects will be blown away with the experience they get. This will help you win them over during the next sale stage.
In general, it is better to sell nothing than make a dishonest sale. If your customers later discover a problem you neglected to mention, you will not only lose the customer, you will also damage your reputation and lose future sales.
9. Not Having an Intention to Close a Sale
You’ll be surprised how many talented salespeople are more focused on making signature sales pitches and killer slideshows than on actually selling.
What motivates them is not the number of deals they close, but the opportunity to use their sales skills and give speeches.
It is advisable to not be concerned with appearances and to go into a sale with the intention of converting the prospect into a customer. You have to be direct and ask the prospect to make a purchase. The sooner you do this in the sales process, the better.
There is only one way to close a sale, and that is to confidently declare that you intend to do so from the beginning. Do not let anything get in the way of your sale by practicing urgency.
Does it work? You bet it does!
We can use our own company as an example. We realized that the sales reps who were the most successful would ask for a sign-off in the middle of the sales process instead of towards the end.
So, we figured that if we asked for a commitment earlier on in the sales process, it would result in more sales being closed. And it did! We saw a 50% increase in sales.
10. Not Being Ready to Overcome Objections
Nobody likes to get “No” for an answer.
Although it may seem counterintuitive, letting customers say “No” can actually be beneficial. This is because doing so increases the value of “Yes” when the customer is finally ready to make a purchase. Additionally, repeated rejections often make the customer more likely to buy the product when they finally do find something they like.
Real estate agents often show potential buyers houses that are not as great as the one they are saving for last. By saying “no” to the first few houses, saying “yes” to the last one seems like a relief.
Sales objections can be difficult to handle, but there are some ways you can make it easier. Staying calm, showing you understand their concerns, and being honest, respectful, and to the point in your responses can help.
When you are dealing with objections, never use the phrase “As I said before.” This will kill the sale. Instead, acknowledge the hostile question or objection as a valid point, rephrase it, and use some humor.
If all else fails, it’s possible that the person you’re trying to sell to isn’t a good match for what you’re offering.
The ability to notice when a sale is unlikely to close and move on is a very important skill. After all, studies show that at least 50% of prospects are not a good fit for what you sell.
Keep up with the times
The sales playbook is constantly changing as new sales techniques are developed. To stay up-to-date on the latest sales methods, you need to be familiar with modern technology and regularly learn about new advancements in the sales world.
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