13 Tiny Sales Mistakes That Cost You Big Money

13 Tiny Sales Mistakes That Cost You Big Money:

In my sixteen-plus years as a sales trainer and speaker, I have noticed that sales people make many tiny mistakes that cost them big money in the form of lost sales. This article is devoted to sharing some of those mistakes with you with the hope that you avoid them.

Here are thirteen tiny mistakes that can have a dramatic impact on your results; I have grouped them into several categories for quick reference.

Prospecting Mistakes

1. Not investing sufficient time prospecting for new business. One of the greatest downfalls for sales people is not prospecting for new business every day, week or month. If your pipeline does not have enough opportunities at any given time you will always struggle to reach your targets and quotas.
2. Believing that anyone or any company is a prospect. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone wants or needs your solution. Succeeding in today’s sales environment means you need to target your prospecting efforts instead of trying to sell to everyone.
3. Failing to let go of low value leads. Many sales people waste valuable time chasing low value sales opportunities when they could be focusing on selling to high value prospects.

Telephone Mistakes

1. Speaking too quickly on the telephone especially when leaving a return number. I can’t count the times that someone has machine-gun-fired their telephone in a voice mail. Prospects are too busy to hit the repeat button and will delete your message if they your return number is spoken too quickly.
2. Multitasking. One of my pet peeves is hearing a sales person type information into his or her computer while we’re talking. I know it’s important to take notes, in fact it’s vital. However, it is less intrusive and distracting for your prospect when you write those notes instead.

Initial Sales Meetings Mistakes

1. Arriving late for an appointment. I have talked to many sales people who express frustration when a prospect won’t meet with them when they arrive five minutes late for a scheduled appointment. It doesn’t matter why you are late, your prospect simply doesn’t care.
2. Beginning a sales call by talking about your company, products or services. I know you think it’s important to open a sales call with this information but all your prospect wants to know is how you can solve a business issue they are struggling with.
3. Failing to ask enough high-value questions. Your preliminary research should give you insight into a potential problem your prospect is facing. Asking additional tough, penetrating questions will give you further insight on how to best position your offering.
4. Not listening carefully to the prospect/customer. Prospects will give you clues into what’s really important if, and only if, you listen to what they tell instead of waiting for your turn to speak.

Presentation Mistakes

1. Not showing the value of your solution. Discussing features and benefits does not usually provide an compelling reason for someone to buy from you. You need to demonstrate exactly how your solution is going to benefit them. Present data on how they will save money or make money and you have a better chance of moving the sales process forward.
2. Forgetting to adapt your presentation. Every prospect is different and as a result has slightly different needs. A one-size-fits-all approach is no longer effective. In today’s competitive sales world, you need to adapt each and every sales presentation to meet the need and personality of each prospect.

Closing Mistakes

1. Failing to ask for a commitment during each sales call. Every call MUST end with some type of commitment. Saying something like, “I’ll call you next week” doesn’t count. Gain specific agreement for the next steps.
2. Neglecting to ask for the sale. You can make the best sales presentation in the world but if you don’t ask for the business, you may lose it. You simply can’t wait for the other person to say, “Okay, let’s do it.” You need to be proactive and ask for the sale. “May I have your business?” is an easy, non-threatening way to achieve this.

Tiny mistakes are easy to make but they can cost you lots of money. Review the mistakes outlined above and identify which ones you may guilty of making. Then take action to correct your approach.