Weekly Sales Tips: 3 Deal Killing Mistakes Salespeople Make
Wouldn’t you like to deliver the perfect sales presentation? Who wouldn’t? However, we’re all gonna make mistakes, but we can avoid the truly tragic mistakes. Let me share with you three deal-killing mistakes that salespeople make.
Sales is a complicated game. It’s complicated even in the best of situations. It’s even more complicated when we make mistakes, and you’re going to make mistakes.
If you’ve been in sales for any time at all, you know that you’re going to run into struggles and challenges that you just can’t overcome. Sometimes you just say the wrong thing. I’m going to confess to you right now. I once said something during a sales presentation. It was a slip of the tongue, but it was so heinous and so embarrassing that I still don’t talk about it with anyone today.
Those things happen. You can hardly prepare for them, but what can you control? And more importantly, how do you stay out of trouble? What you can do is pay attention to those things that are most likely to cause a sale to go badly, those things that are in your control.
Let me share with you three deal-killing mistakes salespeople make.
Neutral Energy
When I talk about the energy of a salesperson, it’s not so much contrast between high energy and low energy. The contrast is between positive energy and negative energy. But even that requires further explanation because I talk to a lot of salespeople in different industries and I don’t typically see truly negative energy. What I do see is a whole lot of neutral energy.
It’s not that people are mean, it’s just that they’re not giving off any good vibes. I’m going to be bold here and say neutral energy is negative energy. You’re either positive or you’re everything else. But why is it so important to bring that positive energy? Because if the customer likes you, they also trust you; and at that point, your energy becomes adoptable.
Shallow Discovery
The fact of the matter is that it’s easier to talk about the technical points of the purchase than it is to ask about the pain points of the customer’s life. It’s easier to talk about timing than it is to talk about dissatisfaction. So the question I have for you is this, how much do you care? How much do you care about what’s going on in your prospect’s life and in their world?
Let me ask it another way. How much do you want to serve? How much do you need to know? Shallow discovery is about the top-level details, but deep discovery is about understanding the motivation that your customer carries around.
Difficult Decision Making
They make it difficult for customers to even understand how the purchase process works. That’s why one of my favorite closing techniques is called the “explain the process close.” I’m explaining the process; I’m literally telling a customer, this is how you purchase. Is that what you want to do?
It’s so easy and so simple, but more importantly, it makes it easy for the customer to make a decision. It makes it easy for the customer to do what they want to do anyway.
If you’re making any of these mistakes, it’s time to correct them because it is in your control if you want to be the best you can be. Be honest and lean into it how you’re doing with those top three deal-killing mistakes.
Until next time, my friends; learn more to earn more.
