Bad habits ruin sales

There are a few star performers in sales. The other 99 percent fall on a continuum from very good to poor. While this isn’t news, the common approach is to hold up the 1 percent as models for everyone else. “Strive to be a star,” they’re told. While that may motivate a few, it doesn’t help the vast majority of salespeople who want to sell more but don’t know how to go beyond where they are.

This picture isn’t complicated. For the most part, salespeople can do things that bother customers so they lose sales unnecessarily. Here are a number of them:

n Trying too hard. A salesperson can be so focused on making the sale that customers feel pushed to make a decision. Even though they may want to say yes, they say no instead as a way to escape.

n Inadequate preparation. Using “canned” or rote presentations that are so general they’re meaningless.

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n Ignoring the customer. Customers try to figure out whether or not a salesperson is genuinely interested in them, and the answer determines the outcome of the sale.

n Talking too much. When salespeople don’t know what to say next, they cover it up with more talk, instead of asking questions.

n Laying on the jargon. Some salespeople think it makes them seem more confident and competent if they use a “secret language” – jargon – to make themselves sound like experts, when it only makes customers feel uncomfortable.

n Writing off prospects. There’s no telling how many more sales a salesperson can make just by staying closer in touch with prospects.

n Not painting verbal pictures. The customer wants to know how their purchase will change or improve their life, help them feel better about themselves, and fulfill a dream.

n Playing a role. Instead of acting normally, some salespeople come across as if they’re playing a part or following a script.

n Failing to involve customers. It’s not only inexperienced salespeople who are guilty of talking to customers, instead of with them.

n Too focused on what they want to sell. It’s one thing to be enthusiastic, but it’s something else to make customers feel what you’re selling is all you care about.

n Stopped learning. They’re frozen in time, most likely at when they first went into sales.

n Believe they can sell anything. Not only do they believe it, they see it as a badge of honor and a sign of superiority.

n Not feeling valued. Being disturbed by a lack of appreciation only distracts a salesperson from getting the job done.

n Overestimating their competence. Salespeople are prone to exaggerate their competence, their ability to work collaboratively with customers and to close sales.

n Getting pumped up. No salesperson can become successful merely by listening to motivational messages, attending seminars, or buying the latest sales guru’s book.

n Talking down to customers. Some salespeople intimidate customers so they can better seize and maintain control. Some customers acquiesce, while others bail out and go elsewhere.

n Distancing themselves from the company. Customers don’t want to do business with renegades.

n Confusing talk with action. Because salespeople tend to be verbal, they think that when they say something, they’re doing it. When the due date comes around, they’re absent. And so are their sales. •

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