Why You Lose a Sale In Every Business.
Sale is a complicated profession to be in, especially since there is so much contradictory information on what techniques work in helping a salesperson make more sales, how to sell, and the common mistakes salespeople make that cause them to lose sales. In this article I am going to discuss some common mistakes salespeople make, that can cause them to lose sales.
Talking and Listening
Passion and enthusiasm for your product or service are some of the most important qualities to be successful in sales, and never let anyone tell you not to be enthusiastic when selling! It’s better to be too enthusiastic than to be dull, robotic or uninterested in what you’re selling. You can’t expect the prospect to be excited about your product or service if you’re not excited. However, sometimes a side effect of that excitement and passion is making the common mistake of talking too much and not listening to the prospect’s needs and issues that they want to discuss.
On the other hand, it’s very easy during the sales process to let the prospect take control and lead the discussion. It can happen due to the prospect’s personality or their experience dealing with salespeople. It could also be because of the salesperson’s inability to ask the right questions to move the sale forward.
The best way to maintain control of the sale from the beginning is to make sure that you’re asking the right questions. By asking quality questions you’ll have better control over the outcome of your sales interaction with your prospect, and the number of sales you make will increase.
Research
Not completing pre-meeting research will not just make you lose the sale, it will also leave a bad impression on the client. Start a meeting without doing your research about the company and the person, and you are sure to end up making no sales.
In addition to that, the best that can happen in this situation is that instead of presenting a solution to an existing problem, you will end up spending the entire meeting, getting fundamental information, which to senior executives, is a complete waste of their time. This approach is one of most common sales mistakes. Invest the time learning about your prospect before you call them and before you try to schedule a meeting.
The Pipeline
If you’re having a great month selling and completing sales with existing leads, prospecting often gets neglected; you forget that you need to keep growing your sales pipeline with new prospects to nurture for future sales.
It’s very easy to focus only on the hot prospects you are sure will buy now and you neglect to build your sales lead pipeline that will bring in future sales.
The system that many successful salespeople use is they work on prospecting for new leads in the morning and then they meet with hot prospects and close deals in the afternoon. The reason for this is that you want to get your most difficult work done first thing in the morning, so you can get it over with. Gather information and learn more about how to prospect to fill your sales pipeline with quality leads.
Commitment
Nobody wants to be cheated. Nobody wants to spend money based on lies they were told by the sales representative they purchased from. Know the features, benefits, prices, and policies of the products or services you sell and never exaggerate or lie. You lose trust by making a promise that you or the company you work for cannot keep. You may even end up being sued if you are unable to fulfill a commitment made at the time of sale. Nobody wants to be lied to. Make sales by being honest with your prospective clients. This presents you as an ethical sales professional and helps build your reputation as a person who can be trusted and counted upon.
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