Seven Deadly Sales Mistakes that cost business owners big money and what to do about them
Seven Deadly Sales Mistakes that cost business owners big money and what to do about them
Solution: You must learn how to open the sale; build rapport with your prospective customer and develop an understanding of their business or of their lifestyle first. Only when you have some understanding of where they’re coming from can you even hope to advocate a solution that they will be interested in.
For years sales trainers have been talking about “closing the sale” and employers still advertise for salespeople who can “answer objections and close the sale”. Every week recruitment adverts appear in newspapers seeking salespeople who are “strong closers” to sell products with high consumer demand.
OK, so if the product is in high demand, why do you need to be a heavy closer to sell it? If you’re using “closing” techniques that come from a manual with a copyright notice more than 15 years ago, you’re out of touch! Your buyer is not going to appreciate you using any manipulative tactics to get them to buy.
Would you like your accountant to be using 15-year old tax laws to do your tax return?
2. Deceptive prospecting tactics – don’t sound like a bad network marketer.
Solution: before you call a potential new buyer, consider what their reaction to your call might be. People are busy today so calling to ask if you can drop by for a chat or to talk about a mystery is pointless. Why should someone give up their time unless they believe you can do something for them?
What are you going to say that will cause them to stop their current train of thought, stop what they’re doing and open their diary to enter a meeting with you. You will need to spend some time planning what to say. What you have to do is identify the key product benefits that will apply to this buyer before you call and then use those benefits in your conversation in order to gain the appointment.
3. Not correctly identifying prospects – don’t bother selling to folk who don’t need what you sell.
Solution: develop a buyer profile; know who is likely to want what you sell and what their buying process is. Identify the key person or people and look to provide answers to their wants and needs. If you can’t reach the key person, whoever you can reach has to become your ally or advocate. Talk in their terms!
4. Focusing on the product not the customer – what they’re buying is the sizzle not the sausage.
Solution: learn to talk about benefits and what that benefit will do to ease their pain or solve their problem; how it will make or save them money. To do this you must be able to relate how each aspect of everything you sell benefits the customer.
If people quickly grasp the idea and benefits of your business, it’s considered to be infectious. Do people nod knowingly as you describe your company’s products or services, or do they look puzzled and quickly excuse themselves? If it’s the latter, you’re not selling benefits.
5. Talking, not listening – how can you listen when you’re talking?
Solution: You must learn to ask questions – use open, closed and “tell me about …” to gather information and look for pain! Otherwise you’re trying to “convince” – who wants to be convinced? Guaranteed to get claw-backs. Essentially you’re getting into a struggle with the customer and this is a struggle you’ll never win.
6. Ignoring the customer once the sale is made – forgetting service, and back-end business opportunities. (Back-end business is the business you generate from a client after you’ve made the first sale to them.)
Solution: you must understand the lifetime value of a customer.
Take two simple examples: The men’s hair salon (OK – Barber’s Shop) I go to once a month. Over 15 years, that’s a total of 180 haircuts; so over ten years I’ve spent over $2,500.
My Optometrist. My wife and I both wear glasses and over the same ten year period we’ve averaged one pair of glasses each per year. I guess we’ve spent over $5,000 with our Optometrist in that time. Plus my mother and my sister shop there.
My point? They’ve created close to $8,000 in business from my family alone, not to mention the dozens of referrals we’ve generated for them.
What value is your customer worth in revenue and referrals over five or ten years?
7. Ignoring testimonials and referrals. In other words, always using cold prospecting techniques to find new clients.
Solution: develop “warm” enquiries and leads. New business can come from a variety of sources:
Cold calls
Advertising including Direct Mail and the Internet
Loose reference groups like the school P&F, family, friends
Tight reference groups such as referral clubs and business associations.
Develop a referral strategy for your business. Try a “customer loyalty” scheme such as get one free after paying for five. Offer customers entry into prize draws for referring new customers. I know of a hairdresser who buys you dinner at the Hilton for introducing 5 clients.
I know I said seven mistakes but let me make just one more observation…
I frequently see businesses spend huge sums of money on marketing – brochures, adverts, direct mail etc because their belief is that if they increase their enquiry rate, they will make more sales. That only works if their salespeople are capable of converting those enquiries into business.
Before you spend money on marketing in the attempt to gain more sales, consider how many sales opportunities you’ll miss if your staff can’t convert the extra leads you generate into business.
Wouldn’t you be better to invest in some quality training to make sure you significantly improve your conversion rate? After all, a missed sales is a sale for your competitor…
Seven Deadly Sales Mistakes that cost business owners big money and what to do about them - To learn more about this author, visit James Yuille's Website.
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1. Looking for a “quick fix” to close more sales – sales aren’t closed, they’re opened.
Solution: You must learn how to open the sale; build rapport with your prospective customer and develop an understanding of their business or of their lifestyle first. Only when you have some understanding of where they’re coming from can you even hope to advocate a solution that they will be interested in.
For years sales trainers have been talking about “closing the sale” and employers still advertise for salespeople who can “answer objections and close the sale”. Every week recruitment adverts appear in newspapers seeking salespeople who are “strong closers” to sell products with high consumer demand.
OK, so if the product is in high demand, why do you need to be a heavy closer to sell it? If you’re using “closing” techniques that come from a manual with a copyright notice more than 15 years ago, you’re out of touch! Your buyer is not going to appreciate you using any manipulative tactics to get them to buy.
Would you like your accountant to be using 15-year old tax laws to do your tax return?
2. Deceptive prospecting tactics – don’t sound like a bad network marketer.
Solution: before you call a potential new buyer, consider what their reaction to your call might be. People are busy today so calling to ask if you can drop by for a chat or to talk about a mystery is pointless. Why should someone give up their time unless they believe you can do something for them?
What are you going to say that will cause them to stop their current train of thought, stop what they’re doing and open their diary to enter a meeting with you. You will need to spend some time planning what to say. What you have to do is identify the key product benefits that will apply to this buyer before you call and then use those benefits in your conversation in order to gain the appointment.
3. Not correctly identifying prospects – don’t bother selling to folk who don’t need what you sell.
Solution: develop a buyer profile; know who is likely to want what you sell and what their buying process is. Identify the key person or people and look to provide answers to their wants and needs. If you can’t reach the key person, whoever you can reach has to become your ally or advocate. Talk in their terms!
4. Focusing on the product not the customer – what they’re buying is the sizzle not the sausage.
Solution: learn to talk about benefits and what that benefit will do to ease their pain or solve their problem; how it will make or save them money. To do this you must be able to relate how each aspect of everything you sell benefits the customer.
If people quickly grasp the idea and benefits of your business, it’s considered to be infectious. Do people nod knowingly as you describe your company’s products or services, or do they look puzzled and quickly excuse themselves? If it’s the latter, you’re not selling benefits.
5. Talking, not listening – how can you listen when you’re talking?
Solution: You must learn to ask questions – use open, closed and “tell me about …” to gather information and look for pain! Otherwise you’re trying to “convince” – who wants to be convinced? Guaranteed to get claw-backs. Essentially you’re getting into a struggle with the customer and this is a struggle you’ll never win.
6. Ignoring the customer once the sale is made – forgetting service, and back-end business opportunities. (Back-end business is the business you generate from a client after you’ve made the first sale to them.)
Solution: you must understand the lifetime value of a customer.
Take two simple examples: The men’s hair salon (OK – Barber’s Shop) I go to once a month. Over 15 years, that’s a total of 180 haircuts; so over ten years I’ve spent over $2,500.
My Optometrist. My wife and I both wear glasses and over the same ten year period we’ve averaged one pair of glasses each per year. I guess we’ve spent over $5,000 with our Optometrist in that time. Plus my mother and my sister shop there.
My point? They’ve created close to $8,000 in business from my family alone, not to mention the dozens of referrals we’ve generated for them.
What value is your customer worth in revenue and referrals over five or ten years?
7. Ignoring testimonials and referrals. In other words, always using cold prospecting techniques to find new clients.
Solution: develop “warm” enquiries and leads. New business can come from a variety of sources:
Cold calls
Advertising including Direct Mail and the Internet
Loose reference groups like the school P&F, family, friends
Tight reference groups such as referral clubs and business associations.
Develop a referral strategy for your business. Try a “customer loyalty” scheme such as get one free after paying for five. Offer customers entry into prize draws for referring new customers. I know of a hairdresser who buys you dinner at the Hilton for introducing 5 clients.
I know I said seven mistakes but let me make just one more observation…
I frequently see businesses spend huge sums of money on marketing – brochures, adverts, direct mail etc because their belief is that if they increase their enquiry rate, they will make more sales. That only works if their salespeople are capable of converting those enquiries into business.
Before you spend money on marketing in the attempt to gain more sales, consider how many sales opportunities you’ll miss if your staff can’t convert the extra leads you generate into business.
Wouldn’t you be better to invest in some quality training to make sure you significantly improve your conversion rate? After all, a missed sales is a sale for your competitor…
Seven Deadly Sales Mistakes that cost business owners big money and what to do about them - To learn more about this author, visit James Yuille's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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