We all know that sales are the heart of our business. Without sales, there’s no money; without money, we don’t have a business, or we don’t have a lifestyle. There are 5 ways you could be killing a sale.
1. Being Too Pushy
You don’t like it when someone comes to you, especially a salesperson, and they’re trying to force you to buy their product. That’s literally being too pushy.
You want to create an open, honest conversation. Create a two-way street, engage with and interact with the customer. That way, the customer feels more comfortable, and obviously, you’re not going to kill the sale.
You also want to ensure that you don’t have a hidden agenda because your customer will be able to pick that up straightaway. So essentially, create a warm, inviting environment, and don’t be too pushy.
2. Discussing Cost At The Get-go
Discussing cost at the get-go means right at the very front, you’re really telling the customer what the price is and what they get without again creating a two-way street and engaging with the customer.
You first have to articulate the value. You have to first solve their problems before you start getting into what the price is and how much it is going to cost them. That is off-putting.
People are not interested in something if they don’t know that it’s actually going to add value. You can talk about the cost later. Once you add value and you solve their problems, then price is not going to be an issue any longer. You’ll be able to charge a premium in most cases if you do it correctly. And, if you do it wrong, you’re going to kill the sale.
3. Pitching To The Wrong Person
You could have the greatest sales pitch, and you can create engagement and interaction with the other person. But, if they’re not the decision-maker and if they’re not the one who writes the cheque, then it’s pointless. You have to be speaking to the person that makes the purchasing decision. Talking to the wrong person kills the sale.
Yes, they might be happy, and they might engage with you and interact with you, but if they’re not going to make the decision, they’re not going to pay for that product or service, then you haven’t got a sale.
It’s important that you speak to the right person. Sometimes, you might call up and speak to a receptionist and you might create great rapport with that receptionist, but that doesn’t mean that you’ve got the sale. You need to look for and ensure that you’re speaking to exactly the right person that you need to speak to.
4. Being Unavailable
If a customer tries to call you and you don’t answer your phone, or your customer emails you and you don’t respond to their email, that’s literally being unavailable. It’s like saying to them, “I’m not interested. I don’t want your sale. You’re not an important customer to me.”
If that happens, you’re obviously going to kill the sale. Customers are going to go somewhere else where they can get service when they want it. And, in most cases, that’s what customers are looking for.
They want to be able to speak to the salesperson, get in contact with them at their first try and first attempt, and for you to be able to resolve their problems and questions when THEY need it, not when YOU need it. So, always make yourself available.
Yes, of course, you can’t always “be available” because you might be in another sales meeting or it might be outside of business hours at certain times. But, put in place a plan or a strategy to be able to get back in touch and back in contact with that customer in the quickest time possible.
5. Failing To Follow Up
The biggest secret in sales is the follow-up. We all know that it takes sometimes 5-12 different touchpoints and interactions with the customers to finally get that sale.
If you’re going to try once or twice and then give up, that customer then is essentially going to buy from someone else and you’re going to lose the sale. They might not be ready at that particular moment; they might need to take some time to make a decision, or they might need more information. You need to deliver some more value before they’re comfortable purchasing from you, so you need to follow up.
Sales and follow-up are synonymous. They go together. You can’t have one without the other. You get lucky if you make a sale on your first attempt, but you’re going to kill the sale if you are not following up with your customer. Following up with your customer also shows persistence.
If you can show value and not be too pushy, and not discuss costs right at the get-go, and also make sure you’re pitching to the right person and everything goes into follow-ups, you are less likely to kill the sale.
Those are the 5 ways that you could be killing a sale, so don’t do any of these.
