Episode 048 - Five Critical Sales Mistakes To Avoid

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We are going to be talking about the five critical mistakes that
people make in their sales. I heard sales referred to, by a
business person that I have a lot of respect for, as a moving
target. It's ever-evolving. It's always changing. Markets are
shifting.


The strategies that worked 5, 10, 15 years ago don't necessarily
work today. There are principles of human influence at the core
which remain the same, but the way that these principles need to
be executed to remain effective is constantly changing.


The first mistake you need to avoid in sales is talking too much.
Years ago, a good talker and a good salesperson went hand in
hand. To some extent this remains true; a good talker with no
structured sales approach will come across enthusiastic, but
enthusiastically boring.


To be great at sales, you need to know how to string a sentence
together. In my experience, the best salespeople are often the
best listeners, not the best talkers.


Being able to listen intently, place yourself in another’s shoes,
and emotionally relate to your client’s position, is infinitely
more powerful than simply being a good talker.


The second mistake is in too much prescribing without enough
diagnosing. It is always noticeable when a salesperson jumps the
gun to tell someone about their product or service. I have heard
it referred to on occasion as premature elaboration. The best
salespeople quickly and effectively diagnose before they jump
into a product presentation mode.


The third mistake you can make is selling to someone who isn’t a
great fit for your product. They simply won’t yield good results,
becoming dissatisfied with your product or service and going on
to potentially write a bad online review. They’ll go around
telling others about their negative experience as well, damaging
your word of mouth reputation.


The fourth one is using clichés that put people off. What comes
out of your mouth can win someone over or throw them away. Years
ago, I had hired a colleague who used to say, “Let's talk
Turkey.” It used to drive me nuts.


I don't know why that’s an acceptable term because what’s the
general connotation of the word Turkey? It's not that positive. I
just couldn’t understand that with the abundance of words
available in the English language, there wasn’t a better way of
describing the act of chatting to someone about business.


Words are either used constructively, adding to the experience,
or destructively, subtracting from the experience. Clichés are
worth avoiding. If you've got clichés in your industry, then
avoid them. It makes you sound like everybody else, use words
that distinguish you.


The fifth mistake is lying or not being genuine. This one will be
the most detrimental to your sales if left unaddressed.
Regardless of how good your sales system is, if you aren’t being
yourself and don’t value your product and company, you will lose
sales. You need to understand what you sell and be perfectly
clear on your own value.


There is certainly a bigger list of mistakes a salesperson can
make, but these are definitely some of the biggest ones. So
remember, to be a great salesperson, you don’t have to be a great
talker. Listen to your client, place yourself in their shoes, and
diagnose the problem, before even thinking about prescribing a
solution. Using your emotional intelligence to grasp the client’s
situation is more powerful than any cliché driven pitch you can
deliver.


To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already
have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his
exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF
guide.


Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone
scripts, and more that you can put to use today.