The goal of sales is to provide the customer with a solution that meets their needs. However, if representatives are not properly prepared, they can drive customers away. It is important to learn about common sales mistakes and how to avoid them.
A sales team is the connection between a company and its customers. It creates the relationship between a consumer and an organization. Whenever a customer wants to fulfill their needs, sales reps are the first to provide them with a solution.
Since salespeople are the crucial touchpoints for customers, they should always keep fine-tuning their approach in order to better understand the needs of their target clients and offer them customized solutions.
Why is Sales Crucial for a Business?
The sales team plays a pivotal role in the organization’s success. Here’s why:
- Increases client base: Raising awareness about the company’s product is half the work done. The next challenge is to close the deal by helping the prospects solve a particular problem with a product or service.
- Aids business growth: The key to business growth is trust between the customers and the company. That’s exactly what salespeople do. An effective sales discovery call structure can help the sales team develop confidence right from the start.
- Increases customer retention: Excellent salespeople build long-term relationships with customers. It leads to word of mouth, referrals, and recurring purchases. Further, follow-up calls and feedback increase customer retention.
- Solve Customer’s Problem: Even if a company doesn’t have a dedicated sales team, it will still be making sales directly or indirectly. Chances are, somebody is in charge of helping the customer solve a problem with its product.
In modern sales, it is important to understand the customer’s experience with the product, in order to fulfil their expectations. This can be done by tracking analytics with AI.
It is not necessary to be part of a sales team to understand the concept of sales.
Nowadays, almost everyone is selling something, whether it’s a physical product or a service.
- If you’re an employee, you’re selling your skills or expertise to a company.
- If you’re a freelancer, you’re selling professional services to clients.
The author of the novel you bought is selling their imagination to you in the form of words. They charge you for taking you on their imaginary journey.
Companies and organizations place a greater emphasis on sales because they directly impact a company’s revenue. The more sales a company makes, the more money it brings in.
Sales power shouldn’t be underestimated or under-used.
Sales require practice in the same way that other areas of life do. If you practice perfectly, you will be able to sell anything.
There are many common sales mistakes that new sales representatives make. If these mistakes are not corrected, they can result in a bad customer experience and lost deals.
Learn about the common sales mistakes and how to avoid them to turn every deal into a win:
12 Most Common Sales Mistakes And How To Avoid Them
1. Not following a sales discovery call structure
If you don’t have a sales strategy, you’re wasting time and not working efficiently. A sales discovery call structure is your roadmap to winning a customer. Having a well-defined sales structure helps you optimize the entire prospecting process.
What is the perfect sales strategy? Identifying and solving the core problems of your customers.
To improve your sales hit rate, invest time to create an effective sales discovery call structure. Before getting on a call with a prospect, research about him and learn about his industry. While on the call, ensure you listen more than you talk.
2. Arguing with a potential customer
Sales representatives frequently make the mistake of arguing, even though it may seem obvious.
It is easy to become angry when a prospect’s objections are unreasonable or even illogical. However, it is best not to lose one’s temper and instead remain calm.
If you argue with potential customers, you will almost always lose the sale.
If you disagree with what someone says, it is best to remain silent or to let them know that you are listening to them. You can do this by saying something like, “I can see where you’re coming from.” Asking questions to clarify their position and paraphrasing their statements will also let them know that you are interested in what they have to say, without having to argue.
It’s best to walk away from situations where you’re getting nowhere and focus on opportunities that are more likely to be successful. You can’t please everyone, so it’s not worth trying to.
3. Selling to people who don’t need it
If someone doesn’t need your product, it is useless to them.
It may seem like a good idea to sell to people who don’t need your product, but it usually doesn’t end well. The buyers end up feeling regretful and like they were tricked, which isn’t good for the image of your brand.
Rule to avoid this common sales mistake
It is important to profile customers in order to understand their needs. AI apps can help identify leads and convert them into customers.
4. Not having an intention to close a sale
Many salespeople are more concerned with making impressive pitches and slideshows than actually selling.
The ability to speak well and salesmanship are what motivates them, not the number of deals they close.
The best way to make a sale is to be determined and confident, without being arrogant. You have to be direct and ask the customer if they want to buy the product, without beating around the bush. The sooner you do this in the sales process, the better.
The only way to close a sale is to go ahead and do it. Confidently declare that you intend to close the sale from the beginning. Practice urgency so that nothing will steal your sale.
Does it work? You bet it does!
5. Pouring product information all at once
It is common to want to give a prospective customer all the information you have at once, but this will usually result in losing the customer due to an aggressive sales pitch.
When you talk on a call, try to avoid talking too much. It’s better to let the customer reveal their pain points in your particular marketing/servicing space and offer a viable solution.
Your sales call will be more effective if you take some time to structure it before getting on the call. Keep your focus on the essential information and work towards closing the deal. Remember that your prospect already has a lot of information at their disposal.
What he wants instead is for you to be helpful in decision-making. Present information that’s relevant to him and will affect his decision the most.
6. Talking just about features, not benefits
The person you are trying to sell your product to might not care about the programming language it uses. Telling them about the features without explaining how it will benefit them is a waste of time.
How to avoid this sales mistake:
A common sales error is failing to emphasize how your product can help the customer achieve their goals. Instead, focus on the problem and present your product as the solution. People are looking for products that will help them improve their situation, so make sure to focus on that aspect.
Prospects want a product that is worth the time and money they invest in it. Show them how your product or service will make their lives easier, and focus on the great experience they will have after they purchase it.
7. Discussing price at the beginning
Imagine picking up a sales call, and the sales rep starts saying:
“We have an expense management product which starts with $100 per month.”
“Wait, what?”
Instead, take your time to understand what the customer needs. The most important skill for salespeople is patience. It’s a mistake to try to rush through a sale and close the deal quickly. Instead, take the time to understand what the customer needs.
How to avoid this sales mistake?
Let the call progress until either the prospect asks about pricing or provides it themselves. Let the value your product provides be the deciding factor. Support the prospect’s decision to buy with an appropriate pricing plan.
8. Killing sales with words
Do you remember the last time you used the word
‘roadmap’ or
‘billion’ during a sales call?
Saying these words will make it difficult to close a deal.
You should avoid the following sales killing words:
- Contract; instead say paperwork
- Free Trial;instead say lets get you started with nothing out of pocket
- Payment;instead say investment
9. Not listening and talking too much
If you’re trying to sell something, you’ll probably want to talk about it a lot. You might passionately describe the benefits and features of your offering, and try to show off your knowledge.
Pushy salespeople are not always successful. Those who are considerate are more likely to be successful. It’s not just you who is selling!
Instead of talking, try listening more and ask open-ended questions. You should be talking 60% of the time or less and listening 40% of the time or more.
A study has shown that B2B salespeople who close at the top of their profession tend to speak only 43% of the time on average, letting their prospects speak for 57% of the time instead.
If you want to understand the customer’s business needs and tailor your offering better, listen more and ask targeted questions. You will also get to know them as individuals better this way, including their preferences and tastes. Showing that you care is also important.
The best thing is that by asking questions and listening, you enable the potential customer to do all the job for you, revealing their main pains and identifying ways you can solve them. This is especially valuable during the prospecting stage of the sales process.
10. Offering too much for nothing
This is a direct result of talking too much. Some salespeople try to win the customer by offering too much help without being asked, and in doing so, become an unpaid consultant.
It’s great to be helpful, but there should be limits. Prospects love to get information and advice from sales reps, even when they don’t intend to actually buy anything.
Don’t forget that information is power!
Don’t try to win over potential customers by giving them a lot of information without getting anything in return. Instead, offer to solve their problems with your product or service.
Talking about solutions…
11. Making promises you can’t keep
Overpromising and underdelivering equals to mere lying in business.
Although it may be tempting, over promising or hiding information about your product or service will not help you in the long run.
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.
It is better to not make a dishonest sale, because if the customer later finds out about a problem, they will not only stop being a customer, but they will also tell other people, damaging your reputation.
12. Not being ready to overcome objections
Nobody likes to get “No” for an answer.
Although it may seem counter-intuitive, sometimes saying “no” to customers can actually be beneficial. By doing this, you increase the value of “yes” when the time is right. In addition, customers who are repeatedly rejected often become more likely to make a purchase when they finally find something they like.
A common tactic that real estate agents use is to show houses that are not as great first and then saving the really good one for last. After saying “no” to too many houses, saying “yes” to the good one is a relief.
Sales objections are a form of art. You need to stay calm, show that you understand their concerns, and be respectful and brief in your answers. Acknowledge the objection as a valid point, rephrase it, and use some humor.
If you’ve tried everything and the person you’re trying to sell to still isn’t interested, maybe they’re not a good fit for what you’re selling. Knowing when to abandon a sale that has a low probability of success is an important skill. According to studies, at least 50% of the people you try to sell to won’t be interested in what you’re offering.
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