It’s the end of the year. If you’re a salesperson, it’s a good time to reflect on how well you did in 2017. Did you make your quota? Could you have done better? While you can’t win them all, perhaps, it’s important to consider whether you made any missteps that cost you big opportunities. There are five mistakes our organization routinely notices:
Lack of preparation
Does your team come together in the lobby of the building to discuss your approach? If so, you are not adequately preparing. Customers quickly sense when salespeople haven’t done their homework. The excuse we often hear is “We don’t have time to prepare. We’re too busy.” When you don’t prepare, it is easy to make assumptions about the customer’s issues, rather than to actually know them. Some salespeople introduce themselves and start talking about their latest and greatest product in the hopes that something will spark an interest and the customer will buy. To be successful, you absolutely must research the company; review anything in print or on the web and talk to people inside the organization to glean relevant information about current priorities.
Rushing to close
There used to be a saying, “Always be closing.” We disagree with that premise. Customers will buy only after you have demonstrated you have clearly understood their problems and have shown your product or service will help. They also need to feel they can trust you and that you are honest. Building a relationship takes time. Rushing to close makes most customers feel too pressured.
Promoting the features of a product
Once you have uncovered the needs, it seems logical to point out all the benefits or features of a product. This might work for a small sale, those sales under a $100. However, when the sale amounts to several hundred or even thousands of dollars, this approach scares people. Customers start to feel they might be paying for features they won’t really use. It makes them think a cheaper or different solution would be the better choice.
Poor questioning skills
Every sales person knows good probing skills are important, but yet they ask one “closed” question after another. They also ask multiple choice questions, instead of one question at a time. For example, “Do you feel your current system is adequate? I mean do you feel it’s too slow or do you feel it’s not easy for the user to access information?” Successful people ask questions that make the customer provide their insights or think about the future. Great questions should guide the customer to see the value of your solution and, perhaps, things they hadn’t considered.
Handling objections
Customers look to see how you handle their objections as a means to determine if you know your stuff. The most successful salespeople have very few objections. They concentrate on objection prevention, not on objection handling. If the salesperson has pushed features, for example, there will be a lot of objections around price. If the salesperson has offered a solution before building up the need, the customer will have any number of objections because the customer has yet to see the value.
There is a lot of pressure on salespeople to excel. Competition is steep and others may provide similar solutions. It is critical that you pay attention to these five all important issues. If you notice, that you falter on any one of these, consider what changes you will need to make.
Question: What missteps have you made that have affected sales beyond the ones we have listed? We’re interested in your reaction to this article.
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Impact Communications, Inc. consults with individuals and businesses to improve their presentation and telephone communication skills. It is not what you know but how you communicate it that makes a difference. When you have to have impact, phone (847) 438-4480 or visit our website, www.ImpactCommunicationsInc.com.
Impact Communications, Inc. was established in 1998. It is a national presentation communication skills and telephone communication skills training company that excels at defining and developing the core elements of effective business communication. With presentation communication skills training, telephone communications skills training, every encounter can be an efficient and lucid transmission of information.
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