Mistake #1: Pressuring for the sale too early
One of the mistakes that salespeople often make is pushing for the sale too early. Immediately they try to push for the sale to a prospect. So what's the issue with this? There are several issues:
- You probably haven't qualified your prospects properly
- You haven't identified what your prospect's needs are
- You spend less time negotiating, which means potentially getting a worse deal than you initially thought
Solution: Give your prospect some breathing room
By giving your prospect some breathing room with the sale and instead trying to understand what your prospect's needs are and who they are, it allows you to seem less like a salesperson and more like a regular person. Coming off as a salesperson can be off-putting, which is why people who often pressure for some action without deciding if you're even interested in the first place or if they have your attention are so obnoxious.
First, understand who your prospect actually is. As a person. What do they do? What kind of person are they? Not only does this allow you to remove much of the "salesman persona" people often think of when they think of salespeople, it's also incredibly useful because it gives you more information that can be used during negotiations. Maybe, after you talk with them, you realize that the prospect doesn't actually need the service or product that you're providing. They could be looking for something else entirely. Maybe you realize that your prospects needs are different than what you initially expected. Or maybe you find out that your prospect is interested in safety in their products and they're very cautious. That can help guide your decision in what you're trying to sell them.
Mistake #2: Thinking "No" means "Never"
Sometimes a prospect will tell you that they're not interested in your product. A mistake that salesperson will make is assuming that this means that the prospect is not interested in the product and will never will be interested in the product. This is simply not true. This will lead to the salesperson not pursuing the prospect. Let's depack what "no" actually means from a prospect. All that "no" means is "I'm not currently interested in what I understand is the service/product you're offering me". This can mean a number of different things, but it almost never means "I will never be interested in doing business with you whatsoever." By identifying a "no" as a "bad prospect", you're losing out on a lot of potential sales.
Another issue is that salespeople often view a failed sale as a bad thing and something to avoid as much as possible. While it's true that a failed sale isn't the greatest moment in the world, viewing a failed sale as only a negative event is a poor attitude to have. Instead, you should view a failed sale as an opportunity to learn and understand where there are weaknesses in your sales process. You are able to learn much more from a failed sale than a sale that you closed. Why? Because a failed sale means something went wrong in your sales process, so that means you can identify a way to improve your sales process.
Solution: Realize that "No" simply means "Not right now, based on what I understand your service/product is"
It's important to not take objections that prospects have at face value, but to dig deeper and try to understand what the prospect really feels about something. There are often many factors that lead to a prospect giving an objection to a sale, such as having to pay too high of a price, not understanding what your product is, or believing that they don't need your product. Recognize that there are solutions to these objections during the sales process.
First, realize that your prospect's objection is based on their understanding of the product or service that you provide. In some instances, this understanding that they have can be incorrect. Make sure that in your sales process, you explain clearly and directly to your prospect exactly the type of service/product you provide so the prospect can accurately judge whether they need you. This is somewhat nuanced, so I'd put yourself in a prospect's shoes and see if there's any other ways that you might understand your product/service differently than how you envision it.
Second, use objections as a way to improve your sales process. Identify what exactly what went wrong during the sale. Perhaps you didn't qualify your prospect properly, and they're not that great of a prospect after all because they don't need your services. Once you realize that, you should identify better ways to qualify your prospects. Perhaps a prospect says something like, "I don't like dealing with salespeople" and hangs up the phone or stops answering your messages. That probably means you haven't built up enough trust, and you need to identify ways to have the prospect view you not a salesperson but as somebody who can provide them a solution to their problem.
Mistake #3: Not addressing a prospect's needs/wants
Another common mistake that salespeople make is stating all the "amazing" features of the product or service that they're trying to sell, without understanding what the prospect is actually looking for. Take the infamous "sell me this pen" statement that employers give when interviewing for a salesperson. You, a budding salesperson, think it's your job to amaze the interviewer with all the great qualities of the pen. So you start naming them off. "Well, the pen is incredibly sleek, it's tough and it doesn't get wear and tear, blah blah blah blah blah". Where did you go wrong? You don't understand what the prospect WANTS!
You need to understand what your prospect wants before you try to sell them on all the features and amazing qualities of the product or service you provide. If you don't know what your prospect needs, you've already lost before you tried to sell them.
Solution: Understand exactly what your prospect needs/wants are and sell them a solution
Maybe ask them a question about how they write -- do they often make mistakes when writing? Maybe they don't need a pen then, maybe they actually need a pencil. What are they often writing about? Are they usually writing notes for meetings? Then they probably want the notes to be easily legible, so you can emphasize how the pen makes it so that your writing doesn't smear. I think you're starting to get my point. Before you can sell the prospect on a product, you need to first make sure the prospect actually wants it in the first place. Then you need to understand exactly what it is that they're looking for so you can provide them a solution to whatever it is. Any salesperson worth their salt should know the SPIN technique when selling. What does it stand for? Situation, Problem, Implication, Need- Payoff
- Situation: Used to collect facts about the prospect / their situation.
- Problem: Probing questions trying to identify problems, points of dissatisfaction or general difficulties that the prospect has.
- Implications: More in-depth probing for the consequences of a problem or the point of dissatisfaction based on information gained from previous questions.
- Need-payoff: Need questions uncover the core need or buying realization for the prospect. They focus their attention on the solution and the benefits they will receive as a result, rather than the product/service you are selling.
Mistake #4: Negotiating only in dollar terms
Another mistake that salespeople make is during the negotiation process of the sale. Let's say you've qualified your prospect, and they're interested, but now you've reached an impasse. Maybe your pricing is too high, or maybe the prospect isn't willing to budge on $X amount that they're willing to pay for your service. What's the problem? The problem is that you're approaching the negotiation only in terms of dollars.
Solution: Be willing to negotiate other concessions
If a prospect is completely unwilling to negotiate on dollar terms, they still might be open to negotiation other concessions that you ask for that aren't in explicit dollar terms. Let's say you're trying to sell to another business. Maybe you ask the prospect to throw in a complimentary service that they provide. Or maybe you ask, then, that the prospect agrees to pay for the service sooner than usual. By negotiating non-dollar concessions, you're able to bring the ball back into your court. Prospects are also more likely to be willing to agree to non-dollar concessions that you ask for, even if they aren't willing to negotiate strictly in dollars that they pay you.
Mistake #5: Becoming emotionally invested in a sale
Another mistake that a salesperson can make is becoming too emotionally invested into a sale. Having some emotion is good as, after all, it doesn't want to look like you don't care at all about the prospect. But it's important that you become so emotionally invested into the sale that you will do everything to close the sale, even if it means putting yourself in a worse position than you were at the beginning. Salespeople that become too emotionally invested in closing a sale will often do anything to close it, even to the point of making unfavorable negotiations on their side or conceding to a price too quickly. It's understandable that salespeople can often be emotionally invested in a sale -- after all, it's what constitutes their livelihood. But it's important to not allow those emotions to get in the way of the sale and making poor decisions during the sales process.
Solution: Approach a sale objectively and rationally. Only use emotions as a negotiation tactic
If you're to the point where you're making any and all concessions you can for the other person so you can close the sale, even to the point of it putting you in a worse position than before, something has gone wrong. You MUST approach a sale objectively and rationally, and make sure that you're only giving the prospect as many concessions as necessary and no more.
It's also important to not be emotionally invested in a sale, and to only use emotions as a negotiation tactic. What do I mean by this? Let's say a prospect agrees to use your service and says they will pay $15,000. After the prospect tells you that, he notices that you seem in disbelief and somewhat angry. "There's no way you think we're going to take that low of an offer," you say. The key here is that you are using emotions only as a negotiation tactic, to reinforce the point that you're trying to make. But if you're actually in disbelief and angry at what the prospect gives you, you might start making bad decisions during the negotiation. Stating calmly that you're not going to take a low offer is acceptable, stating "what the f--- kind of low offer is that?" and hanging up is not. If you think that's unbelievable, somebody actually told me that once before. Any respect that I once had for the person or the service they provided was completely ruined once they used curse words.
Don't let your emotions guide you during the negotiation process.
Mistake #6: Pricing yourself too low
Another mistake is that salespeople will often price a product or service too low because they believe that the prospect will be more likely to agree to terms that way if they do. There are several problems with this approach, such as:
- This often leads to people who are cheap using your product. These people, in my experience, expect the world and more from you and give you little in return.
- This can also lead to a negative view of your business, and the people who use your business. Think of the average person that shops at Walmart.
- This low sales price is usually the beginning of the negotiation, not the end of it. Prospects will usually try to negotiate down from the price you offer them. If you're already pricing a product so low that your margins are razor thin, there's not much room for negotiation.
Solution: Price your product/service higher than you think it should be priced
Raise your prices! Why? Because you're usually pricing it too low. Furthermore, as long as it's not excessive, I'd rather be priced too high than too low. This is because when I'm priced too high, there's always room for negotiation to go lower and make the prospect feel as though they're getting into a win-win scenario, while you get exactly what you're looking for. Let's say you want at least $6,000 for a product you're selling, but you decide instead to offer to sell it for $12,000. A prospect says they're interested in the product, but they think it's priced too high. So you offer to sell it to them for $9,000, which is 25% off. Suddenly, your prospect thinks they're getting a good deal, while you're still getting more than you're originally looking for.
The other scenario, of course, is that the prospect decides to take you up on your high price. This is still a win-win scenario for both people: You get more money than you were hoping for, while the prospect gets a service/product that they were looking for.
Mistake #7: Not being willing to cut your losses short
Finally, not being willing to cut your losses short is a big mistake that salespeople make. This comes down to what I call the "close mentality" that salespeople have -- the idea that they need to close each and every prospect no matter what. Sometimes, however, the opportunity cost of trying to close a sale is high. Say you've spent a long-time trying to close a sale, and it's not that great of a sale anyway. In the same time, you could've closed other sales and made more money.
I faced this issue when I was running my social media marketing business Veyeral. I faced low prices because of the high amount of competition, and I began to realize that I was spending more and more time pursuing prospects that were willing to pay less and less for my services. Simply put, the market had become over-saturated. I was also doing copywriting for businesses on the side, and I further realized that if I had focused all my time on copywriting instead of social media marketing I would be making much more money. After consulting with my business partner, who stated that he didn't want to continue the business unless I worked with him, we mutually decided it was in our best interests to shut down the business entirely, including the website itself. My business partner is now doing his own social media marketing business, and I wish him the best of luck. I'm doing copywriting now. It's all about what our opportunity costs are and being willing to cut your losses when you realize the opportunity too high of not doing something is too high.
Solution: Recognize when the opportunity cost of something is too high and exit