7 Deadly Sins of B2B Sales

7 Deadly Sins of B2B Sales:rom (title unknown) by Kyle Porter

Selling is not easy. And performing any of the 7 Sins of B2B Sales will make it a whole lot harder:
#1 Not Honoring your Word
In order to sell, you buyer HAS to trust you. The only way to build trust with your buyer is to make commitments and follow through on them {tweet this}. It’s unfortunately way too common for sellers to over-commit and underperform. Be careful. Your buyers can see this from a mile away. The minute they do, they’ll run and you will loose the sale. If you don’t have honor and trust, you have nothing.
By the way, this also involves being late – for anything. It’s a huge pet peeve for buyers.
#2 Not Listening
Sure you’ve heard the platitudes:

you have two ears and one mouth for a reason

…and

don’t be a crocodile sales rep…big mouth and small ears

Hate to break it to you, but these ‘platitudes’ exist for a reason…too many sales professionals just don’t listen. And it’s a shame, because listening will bring you keys to the kingdom of sales.
#3 Insincere Emails & Phone Calls (Spam)
The day I became a CEO was the day I started receiving horrible sales messages. Calls asking if sellers could speak with my ‘boss’, emails addressed with my name spelled wrong. One of the biggest annoyances with sales people are uninformed & non-sincere conversations. Coming in cold is often a necessity, but if you’re gonna do it, do it smart. Here’s some advice on breaking down cold call barriers.
And failure to research your customer is not acceptable. Try the 3×3 research methodology or these 3 browser searches before each call. The payback will be well worth it.
#4 Using Trite Phrases
As a sales professional, your goal should be to improve the reputation of all sales professionals one call at a time {tweet this}.
Using stereotypical sales phrases annoy the buyer and work against you. Checkout some of the forbidden phrases by Geoffrey James, the sales machine…these just scream ‘salesman’.
#5 Going Around your Contact
There’s no worse feeling than getting the silent treatment from a prospect. But 99 times out of 100, this isn’t going to change if you go around your contact. So don’t do it. It can create a serious foe. And that’s never good for sales. Man up and find out what’s holding you back, focus on the relationship so you don’t get left in the dark.
#6 Trying to Fit a Square Peg in a Round Hole
If the customer is not right for your product, give up. The scarred remains of many a sales rep lie in the wasteland of continuing to pitch bad prospects. And it annoys the buyer. MOVE ON. Maintain your reputation as a thought leader. Heck, being honest with your prospect here could be a great referral request opportunity. If the shoe don’t fit, wearing it is only going to cause trouble.
#7 Selling features and being Overly Pushy
This is the ultimate sin and the one so many reps break constantly. The buyer doesn’t care about your company, your product, features or roadmap. They just want to solve their problems, so quit the BS, slow down and listen, tailor your message and be empathic. This is the are most reps can change today to make the most of their selling careers.
I’m certain we left at least one out. Which was it?