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Here are top 5 mistakes salesmen make:
#1 Unprofessional approach to work
An unprofessional approach to work, builds a wall between the salesman and customers. It has every chance of dissuading potential customers from arriving at the final stage of closing. Ethics plays an important role in professionalism. If you as a salesman, make the mistake of operating unethically like promise ‘more’ than what you can deliver, or not be honest with your pricing or after-sales service, it would tantamount to cheating your customer. You would then lose your credibility once the customer finds out that your ‘word’ cannot be trusted.
Professional selling inspires trust; it encourages a customer to believe in your ethical principles and opt for the product or service you provide over that of your competitors. Making an honest mistake can be forgiven; but to be caught lying would simply be unacceptable and ruin your prospects of all future sales.
#2 Lack of preparation
If your sales pitch is lacking in preparation you have every possibility of coming out as an incompetent salesman. Not being fully prepared to face customers is the costliest mistake you could ever make. If you don’t take time and effort to know your product well, before meeting with your customers, you cannot make any sales. It could deprive you of your self-confidence and not having confidence in your ability to perform, could weaken your confidence in your product or services.
Self-confidence comes from doing your home-work and being familiar with the current market trends. You cannot be a compelling seller with little or no preparation. You simply cannot afford to make this mistake; instead, you would want to transmit a sense of ‘trust’ in your customers who heavily rely on you and your product. Only then, your customers would readily accept and respect
you. Only then, you would be in a successful position of closing a deal. Smart selling entails knowing your customer well and working towards providing him with the utmost satisfaction in your product or services.
# 3 Communicating ineffectively
Most often, salesmen fail to achieve their sales target due to making the mistake of communicating ineffectively. Once your product or service elicits enquiries from potential customers, there are several queries and concerns which need to be addressed as far as possible to the customer’s satisfaction. It would therefore be in your mutual interest to ask appropriate questions and ascertain that your product or services meet your customer’s needs and expectations. It may happen that due to lack of effective communication on your part, your potential customers may ‘back-off’ before even taking time to arrive at any definite decision.
You may wonder how this could have happened especially since you believed you had prepared an impressive sales- talk. Perhaps in your eagerness to sell, you had made a grave mistake of not speaking clearly or speaking too fast or out of context. You’re failing to offer your customer an understanding of what you had to offer or address the issues your customer was actually interested in, could have led to your losing the order.
# 4 Inattentive listening
Listening to your customer inattentively is a mark of disrespect. One of the biggest mistakes salesmen make is to half- listen to what the customer is actually saying. While focusing on conveying the ‘basics’ related to your product or services to your customers, you could become totally oblivious of your customer’s needs and simply ignore his requirements. This could leave the customer exasperated, as however good you may claim your product or service to be, you’re failing to consider what your customer is looking for, would not be an appropriate selling technique. Providing the necessary information with regard to what the customer’s requirements are is the key.
Bear in mind that the customer may have already done the ground work with other competitors and may now be having specific queries in mind related to what you are willing to offer. It would therefore be rude on your part to attempt to hurry up the process without listening carefully to all of your customer’s concerns and needs.
# 5 Insincere attitudes
A salesman, who focuses purely on just making a
sale rather than on making his customer happy and satisfied with the product or services provided, is in for trouble. Insincerity shows; even if you try to mask it, discerning customers can see through your intent. They instinctively know and feel that your sales pitch is purely directed not in your interest but to snare you into quickly closing the sale deal of their product or services.
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