11 Biggest Mistakes Sales People Make
Over the years, we have observed the mistakes of many professionals in what we call "selling situations;" that is, where they are trying to acquire a new client or account. Although the actual approach may vary, there are many common pitfalls that trap professionals.
They talk instead of LISTEN
Too many professionals monopolize the time they have in front
of prospective clients with their talk, only allowing the
prospect to listen. For every hour in front of a prospect,
they spend five minutes selling their services and fifty-five
minutes buying them back. Result: no engagement, or "We
need to talk to other firms." The prospect should do
most of the talking, as much as 70%.
They presume instead of ASKING QUESTIONS
Some professionals seem to have all the solutions. In fact,
companies no longer offer services, but are in the business
of "providing solutions." The only thing wrong
with this is too many professionals try to sell solutions
without knowing the problem. The professional must
ask questions "up-front" to insure a complete understanding
of the prospect's perspective.
They ANSWER UNASKED QUESTIONS
When a client makes a statement such as, "Your fees are
too high," most professionals automatically go into a
defensive mode. Often they begin a speech on quality, value,
or experience. Sometimes they respond with a concession or
a fee reduction. If a client can get a discount by merely making
a statement, then maybe he shouldn't buy until he tries something
more powerful to get an even better price. "Your fees
are too high" is not a question! It does not require an
answer. Rather, ask the prospective client, "Why do you
think some companies charge higher prices than others?"
They fail to get the prospective client to REVEAL BUDGET up
front
How can you propose a solution without knowing the prospect's
priority on a problem? Knowing whether there is money planned
for a project will help the professional to distinguish between
the prospect who is ready to solve a problem and one who may
not be serious about it. The amount of money that the prospect
sees investing to solve a problem will help to determine whether
a solution is feasible, and if so, what approach will match
the prospect's ability to pay. Is price the only consideration
as to which company to use? What has the prospect paid in the
past? Why get into a bidding war, or "low-ball" prospective
clients, only to have them get mad at you now and switch companies
later?
They make TOO MANY FOLLOW-UP CALLS when the engagement
is actually dead
Whether it is a stubborn attitude to turn every prospect into
a client or ignorance of the fact that the engagement is truly
dead, too much time is spent on chasing prospective clients
that don't qualify for a service. This should have been detected
far earlier in the process.
They fail to get a COMMITMENT TO BUY before doing
a proposal
Professionals are too willing to jump at the opportunity to
do proposals and often end up wasting their most precious
commodity: TIME. They miss their true goal in acquiring a
client and become free educators, many times merely teaching
their prospects enough to help them buy from their competitor.
How many proposals has your firm done where thousands of
dollars of unbilled time and effort were spent because there
was a poor job of qualifying the prospective client early
on in the screening process?
They chat about everything and AVOID STARTING the sale before
doing a proposal
Building rapport is necessary and desirable, but all too often
the small talk doesn't end and the "sale" doesn't
begin. Unfortunately, the prospect usually recognizes this
before the professional. The result is the professional is
back on the street wondering how he did with that prospective
client.
They prefer "MAYBE" instead of getting to "NO"
Prospects are constantly ending the engagement interview with
the ever-so-prevalent "think it over" line. The
professional accepts this indecision, and even sympathizes
with the prospect. It's easier to bring back the message
that the prospective client might use the firm's services "sometime
in the future," rather than saying this prospect is
not a candidate for the firm's services. After all, wasn't
it the professional's responsibility to go out and get prospects
to say "yes?" Getting the prospective client to
say "no" can also produce feelings of personal
rejection or failure.
They see themselves as BEGGARS instead of DOCTORS
Professionals don't view their time with a prospective client
as being spent conducting an interview to see if the prospect
qualifies to do business with their firm. All too often a "prospect" really
remains a "suspect" and never gets to the more
qualified level of prospective client, or client. Professionals
often find themselves hoping, wishing and even begging for
the opportunity to "just show their expertise" and
then maybe a sale will be made (some even do this by offering
free consulting engagements). This is unlike the physician
who examines the patient thoroughly before making a recommendation.
A doctor uses various instruments to conduct an examination
of the patient. The professional should view questions as
the equivalent to the doctor's instruments, and conduct his
or her examination of the prospective client.
They work without a SYSTEMATIC APPROACH to selling
Professionals find themselves ad-libbing or "going with
the flow" to make the sale. They allow the prospect to
control the selling process. Professionals often leave the
sales interview without knowing where they are because they
don't know where they've been, and what the next step is to
get the engagement. The need to follow a specific systematic
sequence and control the steps through this process is vital
to the professional's success in acquiring new clients and
getting more business from existing ones.
THEY LOOK, ACT, AND SOUND LIKE THEIR COMPETITION
What do professionals know about the "Greatest Skill in
the World: The Art of Persuasion?" What happens when the
prospective client is faced with professionals who look, act
and sound alike in a multiple selection process? How might
the prospect make a decision in that situation? By who has
the lowest fee? By personality? In order to outsell the competition
and avoid losing prospective and current clients, the professional
needs to develop an approach to selling his firm's services
that differentiates him from the competition and that is more
effective. Developing a questioning strategy looking for a
prospective client's "pain" (not by playing some
form of "show and tell"). "Pain" is the
underlying emotional reason people do things.
So How Can I Improve?
Marketing and client skill development is essential. The professional who is serious about his business keeps pace with the times.
Some really progressive firms realize the necessity of investing in marketing plans, consultative selling skill development and ongoing reinforcement of these skills to enroll new clients and sell add-on services.
Can you afford not to?
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