Are You Making These Sales Mistakes?

This is relevant for you if you're a salesperson or manage a sales team.

Despite your best efforts, many things you do daily may harm your sales numbers! It's easy to slip into bad habits and make sales mistakes without realising it.

Your buyers have many choices and will move on if you're not ticking their boxes. If you fail to hit your sales targets, you might wonder why you're making these sales mistakes.

Striking the wrong balance between talking and listening

Finding the right balance between talking and listening is essential whether you're at any stage of the sales process.

Letting the prospect lead the conversation

As a salesperson, you must maintain control of the conversation and stick to your sales process. If you let the prospect lead the discussion, you miss out on the chance to sell your business and explain how you can solve their problems. You also miss the opportunity to ask the key questions leading to a sale.

Avoid this by having a plan for every conversation with your prospects. Write a rough outline of how you want the conversation to go, including a list of key points and questions.

Talking too much

On the other hand, talking too much can also be detrimental. Salespeople who spend too much time talking don't leave space to discover their prospects' needs. Consequently, whatever you discuss may not even be relevant to the opportunity. It would help if you listened to the prospect to understand their exact needs.

The trick is maintaining control conversationally and avoiding too much 'pitching'.

Putting too much emphasis on technology

Focusing on the wrong aspects of your business is another of the typical sales mistakes we see people making.

Technology may play a significant role in your business; sometimes, you can't help but rave about the latest tools and software you use. However, prospects usually don't care what you will use to do the work; the results matter to them.

You're an expert in your field. Prospects come to you because you know how to get the results. So don't go into too much detail about the technology you use. Instead, focus on your methods and results.

Pursuing unsuitable leads

Another easy trap to fall into is pursuing unsuitable leads. While chasing every lead your way can be tempting, it's a waste of time and shifts your attention away from hotter leads.

Even when you're struggling to meet targets, check that every potential lead fits your buyer persona profiles. If they don't, they're probably not worth your time.

Not sticking to a straightforward, consistent sales process.

If your current sales process is incohesive (or you don't have one), it's probably affecting your sales. Without a sales process for your sales team to follow, there's no consistency for your prospects, and it's challenging to know what's working and what's not.

Developing a successful sales process can seem daunting, but it doesn't need to be. You need a straightforward sales process and everyone on the team to follow it. At Flowbird, we help clients streamline their long, complicated processes so they are streamlined, successful, and easy to follow.

Mentioning your price too soon

While laying out all the facts and figures initially can be tempting, this can scare potential customers off.

Instead, sell yourself first. Help prospects understand how you can solve their unique problems. Once your options see your value, they will respond far more positively to any mention of costs.

Not researching a potential client before talking with them

Many salespeople approach sales meetings expecting to use the time to discover their prospects. It is a waste of time for everybody.

Instead, do your research before the meeting. This way, you can tailor your conversation to how your products and services are right for them as individuals. Meetings with prospects you've already researched are far more likely to succeed.

Even the most experienced of us make sales mistakes now and then. What's important is that you recognise your mistakes, learn from them, and encourage your sales team to avoid similar pitfalls.

To help simplify your sales plan and develop a strategy that helps you reach your sales targets consistently, speak to one of us at Flowbird today.

Want to find out what you need to do to reach your sales targets? Try our calculator.